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ARTIST STATEMENT
2005
I am very interested and curious about the transformation that has occurred over the years during my trips to China in December 2004. This vast country is a magical pot which brings together the past and the present, the old and the new, the ancient and the modern in interplay of opposites. The overall effects include a form of mental contortion and dizziness combined with a soulful longing for the past along with comforting pleasuring of the senses.
After almost 30 years since the Cultural Revolution and 60 years of Communist rule, China with its massive population and one of the richest cultural heritages has arrived on the world stage with a vigor and force that is dazzling and unprecedented with the effect of unsettling the mind and rejuvenating the spirit. All this appears as pungent flavors to the outsiders who are used to a steady, systematic way of life.
For someone who left one's native country and lived in the U.S. for 15 years, visiting China is touching even though it is not homecoming. Questions arise - who am I? Where do I come from? How much and how deeply does China influence me as a human being? and many others.
My intention in developing this group of work is to try to communicate the currents of change in modern day China to the viewer by juxtaposition of tradition, culture, philosophy and western influences that pervade it. By showing the imbalance, dissonant and conflicted tension of the situation I hope my work expresses the present as an important transitional period in the history of China. By using the image of people, location and ambience, I want to convey my understanding of the Chinese mentality today. As an artist, I find my work to be a visual exploration that tries to understand and comprehend the under current of China's massive change from a historical and philosophical perspective.
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IMPRESSION