Artists' Fellowship - 2000
(Helena Rubinstein Foundation)
Painting
Artist Statement:
Having grown up on the island of Taiwan, I have a deep affinity for the elemental power of water and the forces of nature. As a Chinese now living in America, I feel the ebb and flow of competing cultures. My working method is a process of subtraction from darkness to light. A dark layer of paint is applied over a lighter ground. While this is still wet, I carve into the paint with a stylus to bring forth the individual lines that are the central motif of my work. These lines flow across the canvas in rhythms and frequencies that create depths and swells on the painted surface. Something of the self is lost in the resulting tangle, then regained, only to be lost again." Wen’s monumental images of raging fire and rocking seas shock the viewer when, looking close, her quiet technique of creating form and movement with fine lines is discovered and comprehended.
More about the Artist:
I was born in Taipei, Taiwan. I received B.F.A., M.A. and M.F.A. in Fine Arts and have exhibited nationally and internationally for over 20 years. In 1980, I was awarded Outstanding Merit in the Young Artists in Asia Now Competition in Hong Kong. In September 1983, I decided to study abroad in the United States. I received Fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts in 1997 and 2000. Also, in 2000, I became a Helena Rubinstein Foundation fellow. I have received Artist Grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 1999 and 2005. The New York State Assembly honored me as "the Artist of 1997 for Visual Arts." In 2001, I received the"Lorenzo Il Magnifico Award" at the Biennale in Florence, Italy.
I am currently working with the United States Department of State, Art in Embassy Program. My works have been exhibited in the U.S. Embassies in Jordan, the Philippines, Singapore, Barbados and will be shown in an upcoming project in Moscow. In late Sept. this year The State Department of the United States purchased three smaller paintings for its permanent collection. I have completed art residencies at the Centre D’Art i Natura de Farrera in Catalunya, Spain and Tze-Young Kiln in Taiwan. The Pollock-Krasner Grant, which I currently hold, will expire in December 2005.
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