Sense of Place

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”, 2021
Commune, oil on canvas, 22” x 28”, 2021
Hiatus, oil on canvas, 24x30, 2024
Hiatus, oil on canvas, 24×30, 2024
Allure, India Ink on Yupo Paoer, 11x14, 2024
Allure, India ink on Yupo paoer, 11×14, 2024
Waiting, oil on canvas, 22x28, 2021
Waiting, oil on canvas, 22×28, 2021

A Mysterious “Nocturnal Journey”

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"x30", 2022
Nocturnal Journey
Oil on Canvas
24” x 30”
Completed in 2022

Five Recent Abstract Paintings

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, 14x11, 2024
Restive, Gouache on Paper, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Bulwark, graphite & gouache on paper collage, 14x11, 2024
Bulwark, Graphite & Gouache on Paper Collage, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Jubliant, gouache on paper, 11x14, 2024
Jubilant, Gouache on Paper, 11″ x 14″, 2024
Apparition, gouache on paper, 14x11, 2024
Apparition, Gouache on Paper, 11″ x 14″, 2024
Vortex, oil on canvas, 28x22, 2024
Vortex, Oil on Canvas, 28″ x 22″, 2024

An Inscrutable Portrait, Stare

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.

Stare, oil on canvas, 24x30, 2022
Stare
Oil on Canvas
24” x 30”
Completed in 2022

This painting was published in February 2024 by Artistonish, Issue 43.

A Few Vibrant Gouache Paintings

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"x11", 2024
Net Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024
Stream, gouache on paper, 14"x11", 2024
Stream Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024
Confluent, gouache on paper, 14"x11", 2024
Confluent Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024
Oblique, gouache on paper, 14"x11", 2024
Oblique Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024
Pulse, gouache on paper, 14"x11", 2024
Pulse Gouache on Paper 14″ x 11″ Completed in 2024

Successful East Bay Open Studios Winter Event

On December 2 and 3, fourteen artists and artisans presented paintings, drawings, ceramics, mosaics, and jewelry at Makers Workspace Studio during the East Bay Open Studios (EBOS). It was a successful communal space. I am particularly pleased that my friend Edith Ng presented her beautiful ceramics to the public for the first time, as our guest artist. Her debut brought tremendous energy and many guests to our studio and all of us benefit from her presence.

During the EBOS event, I was able to sell more than a dozen gouache and ink paintings. Here a some of these works:

Roots, gouache on paper, 14x11, 2023
Roots, gouache on paper, 14×11, 2023
Hydrangea, gouache on paper, 14x11, 2023
Hydrangea, gouache on paper, 14×11, 2023
The View, India Ink on Yupo paper, 14x11, 2023
The View, India Ink on Yupo paper, 14×11, 2023
Flickering, gouache on paper, 14x11, 2023
Flickering, gouache on paper, 14×11, 2023
Profusion, gouache on Yupo paper, 14x11, 2023
Profusion, gouache on Yupo paper, 14×11, 2023
Ethereal, gouache on Yupo paper, 14x11, 2023
Ethereal, gouache on Yupo paper, 14×11, 2023
Autumn Song, gouache on paper, 11x14, 2023
Autumn Song, gouache on paper, 11×14, 2023
Red, gouache on paper, 11x14, 2023
Red, gouache on paper, 11×14, 2023
Breaching, gouache on paper, 11x14, 2022
Breaching, gouache on paper, 11×14, 2022

I am so grateful for all the support I received. Thank you!

Hallucinatory oil painting “Disperse”

My 2022 oil painting, Disperse, captures a hallucinatory moment of a nighttime landscape — between the silhouettes of two monumental and interlocking trees, a group of tiny figures scurrying by, running away from their familiar ground, their fates, their tormentors or captors. The specificities are intentionally omitted, so as to leave the viewers to interpret freely and to fill in the missing details, though the title does hint at diaspora stories in the headlines of late.

Disperse, oil on canvas, 20"x30", 2022

Disperse, oil on canvas, 20″x30″, 2022

This piece will be part of the juried exhibition “Within Sight or From Imagination” at GearBox Gallery, 770 West Grand Ave, Oakland, CA 94612 (August 10 – September 9, 2023). Juror: Jeremy Morgan.
Opening Reception: August 12, Sat., 1 to 4 pm | Juror’s talk: September 2, Sat., 2 pm

Uncertain “Prospect”

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.

Prospect, oil on canvas, 22"x28", 2021

Touching Landscape Painting – “Still Water”

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 - 靜水 - Stilles Wasser
Still Water
Oil on Canvas
30” x 40”
Completed in 2020