Protraction is an abstract oil painting, inspired by an art installation by Ai Weiwei in the Alcatraz island in San Francisco, where he showcased the political repression in the world and the insuppressible yearning for freedom and self-expression, and self-determination. The vivid image of the peeling paint of the narrow prison cells juxtaposed with the sunshine cast through the barriers. This image aptly describes how many people feel today, who suffer from the pressing mental and physical confinement, the censorship and self-censorship, the socio-economic limitations, and the political repressions; and instead of all doom and gloom, there is always a sense of defiance, and a ray of hope. Not to let the hope die, not to surrender to suppression. Together, we can overcome the adversaries and build a better collective future.
Protraction Oil on Canvas 30″ x 24″ Completed in 2024
My oil painting “Refuse” was inspired by the pile of clothes discarded to be recycled or reused. They are not waste; rather, they are materials for future purposes. Berkeley is a land of the free, and people can reinvent and grow into a better version of themselves through ingenuity and diligent labor. This pile of “junk”, the rejected, actually is dignified and rather beautiful in both colors and shape. Nothing is without merit and value; the collective shape resembles that of the spread tail feathers of a peacock, vibrant and alluring. There is hope that resides in this pile of “junk” and it points to a rejuvenated future.
Gallery 2727 in Berkeley is presenting my solo virtual exhibition: Human Conditions: Portraits of a Fraying Age (February 1 – March 3, 2026), featuring 21 figurative and portrait paintings of mine.
I depict life frankly and critically, as visual surfaces and interior qualities. Instead of verisimilitude, I strive to discover and capture what is hidden, emphasizing the implicit and the unspoken.
Though I sometimes use more vibrant colors to express enhanced emotions, or allow more exuberant colors to generate a dimension of visual excitement, acknowledging that joy remains, I tend to narrow my palette, deliberately stripping away the noise.
For Human Conditions: Portraits of a Fraying Age, I have assembled a group of twenty-one oils painted over the last twenty-some years, mostly portraits and figurative pieces. The majority of these are black and white, while some are mainly monochromatic with muted coloration, and a few are inverted images like photographic negatives. All the sitters, singly or in groups, are melancholic, sad, yearning, or resigned. These images comment on the often sad, isolated nature of modern life, and on a social fabric torn apart by class divides and political schisms, depriving people of identity, hope, and self-determining agency.
Presenting these images in muted tones, or even black and white, transforms the sitters into ghostly silhouettes that evoke fading memory and a distorted world, where the familiar has become alien and corrupt.
The exhibition also strives to capture the paradox of our time: a world more “connected” than ever, yet populated by individuals who feel more lonely, miserable, and profoundly divided than at any point in history.
In August 2025, I participated a group show at Gallery 2727 in Berkeley, titled “Sense of Place“.
Though all my four paintings submitted were accepted for this show, due to space limitation, I chose display only three paintings.
The four paintings are quite descriptive: a person sitting next to an empty chair; an empty room with a lamp and a piano but no person; a woman looking out of a window, seeing the desolate landscape; and a window view of a sparse hill with a lone tiny tree.
Through these Spartan scenes, I tried to capture a certain and emptiness. Empty, desolate, or barren. A wasteland of landscape and ethos. Perhaps, these paintings reflected my upbringing in the rather desolate northern China, under a repressive cultural and political atmosphere, or the zeitgeist of what my current dwelling has become. Forlorn, isolated, and resigned.
Commune, oil on canvas, 22” x 28”, 2021Hiatus, oil on canvas, 24×30, 2024Allure, India ink on Yupo paoer, 11×14, 2024Waiting, oil on canvas, 22×28, 2021
A palpable sense of mystery pervades this artwork, dominated by the dark, enveloping night and the equally dark, unfathomable water that blends seamlessly with the sky. Amidst this profound darkness, glides a lone boat carrying two enigmatic figures – a man passively slumbers in the back of the vessel, while a woman sits erectly in the front, with steadfast gaze, leaving the viewers to wonder if she’s lost in contemplation or actively steering their course through sheer will. The overall somber mood is remarkably interrupted by their presence and the flickering reflections, against the fathomless water and the deep unknown.
Nocturnal Journey Oil on Canvas 24” x 30” Completed in 2022
I took an abstract painting class recently, which had many assignment of reading, writing, and paintings. The intensive course demanded a lot of focus and concentration and I was able to push myself to produce some work I am quite happy with.
Restive, Gouache on Paper, 14″ x 11″, 2024Bulwark, Graphite & Gouache on Paper Collage, 14″ x 11″, 2024Jubilant, Gouache on Paper, 11″ x 14″, 2024Apparition, Gouache on Paper, 11″ x 14″, 2024Vortex, Oil on Canvas, 28″ x 22″, 2024
My 2022 oil painting, Stare, portrays a precocious boy who emerged from a chaotic and somewhat menacing background. The lighter and purer figure demonstrates the relative innocence of the boy, in contrast to the murky and impenetrable swirling background surrounding him like a maelstrom. The somewhat stunned or stupefied expression denoted the moment when his attention was caught, and he stared straight ahead as if confronting the viewers; a moment of a sudden turn of events.
From July 3 to 28, I am exhibiting 9 gouache paintings at the City Art Gallery in San Francisco. Opening, July 5, Friday, 7-10 pm. Here are the pieces I am showing. They are vibrant and colorful, though modest in scale, the emotions are big and bold.
Confluent, Gouache on Paper, 14″ x 11″, 2024Pulse, Gouache on Paper, 14″ x 11″, 2024Net, Gouache on Paper, 14″ x 11″, 2024Pink Marsh, gouache on paper, 9″ x12″, 2022Stream, Gouache on Paper, 14″ x 11″, 2024Bountiful, gouache on paper, 11″ x14″, 2023Dazzle, gouache on paper, 11″ x 14″, 2023Diffuse, gouache on paper, 14″ x 11″, 2023Capricious, gouache on paper, 12″ x 9″, 2022
After having worked on a somber series, After Fire, I made a few more cheerful pieces, and I grabbed striking colors. It was great fun to make these vibrant pieces.
Net Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024 Stream Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024Confluent Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024Oblique Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024Pulse Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024
A quote from Karl Marx “All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned” perfectly capture our sad epoch and this monochromatic painting of a disintegrating city/landscape reflects such pessimistic sentiment.
All That Is Solid Oil on Canvas 22” x 28” Completed in 2022
