statement

After several hours of preparation, I use just a single shot to complete each image. During an exposure time of approximately one minute, I manipulate lights in front of the camera to create "light drawings." Sometimes I invert the positive image to a negative one on a computer but otherwise the "light drawings" are not manipulated. Sometimes I put the same positive and negative images side-by-side in the finished piece.

I have been drawing with traditional mediums for twenty-eight years. I used oil painting to explore the effects of light in a 2006 solo exhibition, "See the Light," at the Little Tokyo Cultural Center, partnered with Helen Keller International. I became curious about the effects of lights in motion. Could this become the basis of a new kind of drawing? I experimented with cameras and lights until I was able to spontaneously tap into decades of drawing experience while the camera's shutter was open, bringing life to a series of "light drawings."  

The technique originated in 1914 when scientists Frank and Lillian Gilbreth used small lights and an open shutter to track the motions of factory workers.  My light drawings are inspired by Jackson Pollock and Cy Twombly whose paintings are composed with spontaneous actions, performances traced in time.

In my Zen Buddhist meditation practice, the lights bend like a reed in the breeze,  or soar freely as a bird above a cliff, thousands of lights dancing in my mind. The inner world is clean, clear and full of fresh air. Thousands of lights move as a wave. The secrets of the universe are revealed.

Music, especially classical symphony, also shapes these visions. I draw the feelings the music brings forth, the expansive sense of flying over mountains, rivers, and oceans.

I have been an abstract painter for many years, concerned with line, shape, composition and concept. Digital photography allows me to expand creatively while using an ultra-contemporary medium with limitless potential.

Art for me is an experimental adventure, a profound form of play.

bio

born: 1951, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

education

Taiwan Marine & Technology University, BA,1974

selected awards/honors

Third Place at "2013 Juried Open" at Topanga Canyon Galley, California, 2013
Art Counselor at Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China, 2007-2008.
Award of Distinction, Photographic Competition for Hsi-Lai Temple's 40th Anniversary (Hsi-Lai University), Los Angeles, California, 2005.
Honorable Mention – Annual Contest at Hong Kong International Photographic Art, Hong Kong, China, 2005.

selected publications

International Joint Exhibition Book of Art Photographer's Federation in Korea, 2010.
French-Salon Taiwan Artists Exhibition items Historical data Research Collection by Council for Cultural Affairs of Taiwan, 2008
"Univers Des Arts, 2007" Paris, France, 2007.
"See The Light" Solo Art Book, Partner with Helen Keller International, Los Angeles, 2006.

selected solo or two-person exhibits

"Photo L A", 22nd International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exhibition, California, 2013.
"Dancing Lights" Solo Exhibition at Museum X of Contemporary Art, California, 2012.
"Cultural Continuity" Solo Exhibition at Sun-Tien Museum in Irvine, California, 2008.
"See The Light" Solo Art Exhibition in Japanese Cultural Center, Partner with Helen Keller International, Los Angeles, 2006.

selected group shows

"Made in California" at Brea City Gallery, California. Curated by Meg Linton Linton (curator and the director at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art in Los Angeles), 2013.
"Contemporary Art Ruhr" (C.A.R.), Ruhr, Germany. Curated by Silvia Sonnenschmidt and Thomas Volkmann, 2012.
"Drifting Time" at Taiwan National Chia-Yi University Art Center, Taiwan. Curated by Art Professor Hsieh, Chi-Cheng, 2012.
"LA Open" at Gallery 825 (Los Angeles Art Association), California. Curated by  Rebecca Morse, Associate Curator, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), 2012.