Exploring new media – India ink on Yupo paper

Posted on February 8, 2023 by mfsadmin

Recently, I started to explore painting with black India ink on synthetic, non-absorbent Yupo paper, whose water-resistant nature can be exploited and allow some interesting effects when the ink is washed, sprayed, scrubbed, and removed. I am happy with the results; these new paintings look richly layered, light and shadow contrasted in a complicated and mysterious way, and the flowing ink traces are often unpredictable, playful, and evocative.

Scour

Scour, India Ink on Yupo Paper, 9”x12″, 2023

Reflection

Reflection, ink on Yupo paper, 11″x14″, 2023

C Major

C Major, India Ink on Yupo Paper, 9”x12″, 2023

Stone Flower

Stone Flower, India Ink on Yupo Paper, 12”x9″, 2023

Luxuriant

Luxuriant, India Ink on Yupo Paper, 12”x9″, 2023

The View

The View, India Ink on Yupo Paper, 12”x9″, 2023

Extending

Extending, India Ink on Yupo Paper, 9”x12″, 2023

Garden

Garden, India Ink on Yupo Paper, 12”x9″, 2023

Purifying “Luminous”

Posted on May 18, 2022 by mfsadmin

“Luminous” is a translucent landscape in the midst of a thorough purification – loaded yet still airy rain clouds release a generous yet gentle downpour, which rushes into the solid ground and continues to overflow in the already soaked terrain. The dark clouds, and darker soil, rendered the space in between even brighter, as if backlit, glowing, and luminous. Above the warm earth, the cool rain and clouds leave a refreshing impression.

Luminous, gouache on paper, 9x12 inches, 2022

Luminous
9” x 12”
Gouache on paper
Completed in 2022

Abstract “Autumn Rain”

Posted on May 18, 2022 by mfsadmin

“Autumn Rain” is a semi-abstract inspired by a rainy landscape. I endeavored to capture the pleasant wetness enveloping the fields and hills, and the wonderful interplay of cool and warm hues in the rich fall season. Bold and patchy strokes obliterated the contours of easily identifiable objects and rendered the landscape into almost pure patterns and rhythms.

Autumn Rain, gouache on paper, 9x12 inches, 2021

Autumn Rain
9” x 12”
Gouache on paper
Completed in 2021

Ethereal “Immaculate”

Posted on May 17, 2022 by mfsadmin

“Immaculate” aptly summarizes its subject of the painting – several ethereal white lilies floating in an opaque water body, whose pattern resembles the other-worldly images transmitted by the great Hubble Space Telescope. These dreamily floating flowers and their irregularly patterned background, mesmerize and pull the viewers into the depth.

This painting was published by Your Impossible Voice as the cover art in their 24th Issue in Spring 2021.

Immaculate, gouache on paper, 9x12 inches, 2020

Immaculate
gouache on paper
9″x12″
2020

Uncertain “Prospect”

Posted on January 19, 2022 by mfsadmin

An open, terraced, and desiccated field, dominated by a truss tower of industrial scale, dwarfed by the vault of leaden clouds, served as the backdrop of a small-scaled human drama, which centered on a lone figure looking toward the city silhouette in the distance, as if contemplating his or her future, in the region unknown. All these formed the subject of my landscape painting, Prospect, which suggested some inner turmoil without resorting to gestural embellishments – understated but impactful. I am pleased with the contrast between the vast landscape and the insignificant figure who got lost amid the cold and uninviting surroundings.

Touching Landscape Painting – “Still Water”

Posted on January 3, 2022 by mfsadmin

Several years ago, while traveling to Seattle, I encountered an unusual man-made lake, whose smooth surface was dotted with numerous bleached tree stumps, scattering across large swatches of the water surface. These turned out not to be tree stumps, rather relics or ruins of former workers’ dormitory sheds, which were abandoned and flooded with the change of the industries. The moving and melancholic image of the disappeared past haunted me ever since, and later the stumps-dotted lake and the ghost town underneath became the subject of my landscape oil painting Still Water, aiming to capture the poignancy of the sight.

Still Water
Oil on Canvas
30” x 40”
Completed in 2020

Compassionate “Surveying”

Posted on July 9, 2021 by mfsadmin

My allegorical painting Surveying portrayed a nightmarish landscape consisting of fluid and unsettled patterns, suggesting disturbed soil or waves, like the aftermath of a fierce battle. A large figure dressed in a similarly patterned white garb, floated above this mystic landscape, surveying the ravage brought upon by whatever malicious agents. The figure’s outstretched arms, along with the melting drips from the white dress, suggested immense sorrow and compassion.

Surveying
Oil on Canvas
28” x 22”
Completed in 2013

Dancing “Hordes”

Posted on July 28, 2020 by mfsadmin

My Hordes is one of several paintings that examines herd behaviors of small objects. Resembling new sprouts on thin stalks, or small moths or butterflies, or microbes, here they sway about and dance rather coquettishly against an almost inviting orange-hued background. Though less menacing compared to those in Whirring, they still manage to stir some unease regarding things invisible, during our current protracted Coronavirus pandemic.

Hordes
20”x30”
Oil on Canvas
Completed in 2020

Featured Painting – Emergence

Posted on January 26, 2020 by mfsadmin

At first glance, Emergence is a calm sliver of routine life due to the simplicity of its composition and color scheme; upon closer inspection, what emerged from this picture was not so simple, rather it revealed something indecipherable and with a hint of sinisterness: against a sparse backdrop, a few curious looking, semi-translucent figures floated like ghosts from behind thin vertical bars, which made the whole landscape reminisce of a jail cell, despite the openness of those bars. What was emerging? Inner strength? Outside menace? Guilty conscience? Or stoical indifference to anyone’s fate?

Emergence
22” x 28”
Oil on Canvas
Completed in 2019

Featured Painting, Whirring

Posted on December 7, 2019 by mfsadmin

The difference between the sublime and the terrifying can be surprisingly inconsequential as demonstrated in my new oil painting Whirring, which depicts a kaleidoscope of butterflies, bursting from compact layers of black and brown loam. Individually, each of these quivering insects emits delicate beauty; yet, in league, they form a confusing mass, incomprehensible and overwhelming, and the lively pattern they weave becomes rather terrifying.

Whirring
20” x 30”
Oil on Canvas
Completed in 2019

Matthew Felix Sun

— Award-Winning San Francisco Bay Area Fine Artist

Category Archives: Landscape