East-West Classical Painting

My research in developing new art materials, techniques and motifs has culminated with my personal East-West Classical style.

I entered upon my art creating and teaching career in the 1970's. I studied in the Specialty Art department, China Central Academy of Arts and Crafts (1980-1982) and Mural Arts Department, China Central Academy of Fine Arts (1982-1984). In 1984, I moved to Xiamen University where I taught and continued research until 1992, the year I was invited to the University of Minnesota as a visiting research scholar.

Based on an even wider and more thorough exploration in the history of eastern and western styles, I developed and accomplished a new painting medium and unique technique that combined the use of an over three-thousand year old tradition of Chinese ink, paint and brush with a-thousand-year-long western egg-tempera tradition (a major western painting material before the appearance of oil painting). Chinese ink and egg-tempera, unlike organic base of oil painting, their basic color components are carbon and minerals, have much more chemical stability. The result is that the work can be kept for much longer. For example, some ancient Chinese paintings still look freshly painted even after two thousand years.

To begin with, I create abnormal textures to a special selected Chinese rice paper with my different shrinkage treatments, and then naturally following the texture formation envisage the painting images. With various techniques that are used in Chinese painting, watercolor and oil painting, first I put transparent Chinese ink on both sides of the paper repeatedly, and then apply layer by layer with opaque tempera which is especially thinner-made. I usually coat over 50 color layers on each painting. Every color floats on and permeates through other colors, creating multi-color dimensions. All these works can be enjoyed most closely or at long-range distance through their visual impact.

In 1996, the United States Government granted me permanent residency in the category of extraordinary abilities. I set up studios to work both in the USA and China to promote and develop my East-West Classical style, which I have worked on for more than 30 years.