TSENG CHIENYING

The Chinese title “Wood and Night, Which’s Longer?” derives from Mozi, which initially refers to incomparable things that create a sophistry of the paradoxical comparison between “different” and “same.” But the artist only takes the concept of a discrepancy between “Wood” and “Night” as an approach to embracing more possibilities created by the differences coexisting between “East” and “West,” as Tseng said, “Accepting the status quo of the difference between two dimensions rather than moving in between, then pull out another dimension, so as to understand how one’s perceptual experience is expressed.”

And the word “Skin Depth” could easily be reminded of superficialness, moreover the Skin Effect in electromagnetism — A phenomenon in which an electric current is concentrated on the surface of a conductor by centrifugal force caused by kinetic energy — which also subtly echoes Tseng’s question about “surface” and “inside,” as well as what is the essence of the body.

“Portrait cannot accurately define my figure painting, what I depict is not a single individual, but the mental profile of a larger collective consciousness.” —Tseng ChienYing

In Blush and Threesome, more neon-like colors picture urban people’s psychological state, allowing the viewer’s five senses to shift into the paintings by only staring at them. The painting leads people into a psychedelic space of nothingness that conveys emotions and some unspeakable minds, just like the flashes of light radiating on a dance floor; The smell of alcohol mixed with vague vibes filled the nostrils and sticky sweat on the skin. Furthermore, in The unbearable lightness and Precious, Tseng enhances the unique “visualized tactile” of his works by applying different materials, along with the technique of surface heightening, making viewers feel the unbearable lightness of being by extending the sense of dissimilarity while Bikini line putting a smile on their face. And elegant as Dream a Little Dream presents not only contemporary women’s spirituality but also a look-back that pays homage to the beauty and sadness of the women in the early years of Taiwan. Tseng’s ceramics, on the other hand, shows how the artist lets the body take the lead in a playful way, sculpturing another possibility of expression for spiritual consciousness as an extension of the painting.

The body is the carrier of spirit, through which the mental state is figurated and expressed, while the painting presents the unity between the two. Tseng’s works, as a result, provide an innovative path that profiles a dissimilarity-transcending contemporary spirit for people to stroll among his Oriental aesthetics.