Apocalypse Series

Artist’s Statement

Growing up in communist China, I lived through the hardship and capriciousness of dictatorship. I thought that my escape from China would put such bitter truths behind me, but the more closely I look at the society in which I live now—especially during this era of wholesale assault on freedoms that Americans have come to take for granted—the more troubled I feel.

Every year, the steady erosion of democratic rules and norms, the rise of tribalism and ultranationalism domestically and abroad, and laissez-faire capitalism relentlessly assault civil society. The masses are left helpless and hopeless. The least I can do is to observe, document, and call attention to the ceaseless disasters. My strong feelings about the problems we face motivated my ongoing series of paintings titled Apocalypse.

As an artist, I depict life frankly and critically, focusing on interior qualities while tending to visual surfaces. Instead of verisimilitude, I strive to discover and capture what is hidden, emphasizing the implicit and unspoken. In recent years, I have moved away from purely representational work, leaning into shifts of pattern, color, tone, and shape. I tend toward a limited palette and record the world in a muted light; yet I sometimes use more vibrant colors to express enhanced emotions or allow more exuberant colors to generate a dimension of visual excitement, acknowledging that joy continues to remain however grim the world may be.