Artist Statement
Nothing, but everything
I use abstract photographs to express my artistic concepts. Based on the long-term research into understanding of ancient Chinese philosophical texts: Relativity, Changes, and Harmony and aesthetic principles from classical Chinese ink painting: Spirit-resonance and Void, I created a set of photograms. The relationship of pros and cons in all matters is the relativity. Changes have the intrinsic energy to push the matters to interchange from one original condition to another. Harmony is the paramount way that runs our world, and it’s elusive but it does exist.
There is no exact definition of which side is positive or negative in a photogram and the shapes of voids share with the shapes of light in an image. Namely, because the image can be reversed, the void could become the shape. These two points can be interpreted as relativity. I applied light sources on the photographic paper to capture the various shapes of light itself. Even though the completed shapes in the final images are out of my control, I can control the light source at a different exposure time, angle, speeds of movement, and the distance on each photogram to produce endless variations, just as in painting. This is my comprehension of the changes and the spirit-resonance. Harmony is prime in my artworks. I integrate and exercise concepts and principles into the photograms and make a solid balance after all.
There is no way to produce the same two images in this ever-changing photogram series. I arranged the sequence of presentation layout based on the pace of the resonance among the photograms, the relationship of light and shade among each photogram, and the changes in the shape and void in the images. The photograms are both independent and holistic.