Marlene Tseng Yu 虞曾富美

2020 Cracking the iceberg

In this dark period, we take you out to nature and invite you to breathe deeply. Today's artist to watch, Marlene Tseng Yu, has a solo exhibition at the Springfield Museums. The March 22 reception was canceled, but we are here to share this great Taiwanese artist and her art with you.

(top) Pink marble in Hot Spring, 2016, Canyon & Red Rock Series, acrylic on Canvas, 20 x 40 feet. courtesy of the artist

(bottom) Earth-Element of Life, 2004, Cave Garden Series, acrylic on canvas, 8 x 33 feet. courtesy of the artist

Marlene Tseng Yu responds to nature in a romantic way. She reacted to the sight of melting glaciers in her series Ice Cracking with layered black and white abstract paintings in acrylic that recall in technique both traditional Asian brush ink landscape and western Impressionism. Yu has increasingly employed gigantic paintings to encapsulate and absorb the spectator in an element of the landscape, introducing an added dimensionality, and emphasizing human frailty and the permanency of the landscape. Thus she has responded to the urgency of global warming with both artistic elegance and heartfelt passion.

image: Cracking ice I, II, III， 2012. Acrylic on paper，33 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the artist

Mellow Light Amber - Amber Glow Series., 1995, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches, courtesy of the artist

Blue Lagoon, 1994,4 x 6 feet, acrylic on canvas, courtesy of the artist

The Essence of Nature: Paintings by Marlene T. Yu (The Green Movement in Art)

February 8, 2020–May 3, 2020 at Springfield Museums

Inspired by the natural world, Marlene T. Yu (born 1937) creates monumental canvases using energetic brushstrokes and vibrant colors. Born in Taiwan and trained in ink brush painting as well as academic drawing, Yu came to the United States in 1963, where she was exposed to Abstract Expressionism. For over fifty years, the artist has synthesized Eastern and Western traditions to create immersive abstractions that evoke the power and beauty of nature.

https://springfieldmuseums.org/exhibitions/essence-nature-paintings-marlene-yu/

http://www.rainforestartfoundation.org/2014/3/6/meet-the-founder-of-rainforest-art-foundation

https://www.marlenetsengyu.com/

Conversation with the artist

MTY: Marlene Tseng Yu LL: Luchia Lee

LL: For four decades, you have taken your artistic subjects from the nature environment. Visually, the paintings seemingly participate in abstract expression. During your artistic development, what changes have you seen or experienced?

MTY: My fascination with nature derives from its constant change in form, movement, and color. In my mind, I have countless images of nature. My challenge is to project what's in my mind on to the canvas or paper. I do not distinguish between representation or abstraction. Neither do I intend to project a personal stylistic approach to perspective, composition, or imagery. Rather, my prime emphasis is to focus on the natural phenomena of rhythm and movement.

LL: Earlier in your career, your work was figurative and portrayed images of actual objects such as zebras, and later you were inspired by microscopic objects, then by various natural subjects, and now by ice cracking. If your goal is to record the state of the environment, why do you use abstraction not representation?

MTY: The "Dream Series" came about from the accidental simulation of animal forms and human figures in nature. The diversion to paint representational objects was short-lived -- only for three years (1984-1986) in my career. I found the human body very limited. The "microscopic images" and "cracking ice" are but two series of 36 that I have done so far.

LL: Your work is mostly gigantic, and painting on canvas or on paper. Why do you choose this size?

MTY: Actually the gigantic works comprised only 10% of all of my paintings. Large paintings are time-consuming and complicated to execute. The difficulty increases proportionally when done on a continuous canvas, rather than in sectional parts. The visual impact of large paintings brings me greater challenge and satisfaction. 

LL: Self-expression and representation both seem to appear in all your painting. How do reconcile them?

MTY: Self-expression and representation come seamlessly from my mind to my hand and the paint brush. There is no conscious effort to depict

2014 TAAC Recognition -

Participating Artists work images

冰川溶解一可以分開被收藏或両張一起（掛起三寸間隔）建議如同時收藏2張一起。

3:   (04-27) Molten lava, 2004, Acrylic on paper. 32"x42"(81x107cm）

Marlene Tseng Yu joins abstract black and white painting with colorful images of glaciers melting and forest fires. Marlene sees many elements in our environment, be they as broad as the horizon beyond or as small as cells under the microscope. In this setting, she hopes to capture the spirit of the universe, its rhythm and movements.

The beauty of the universe changes with time. As the days pass and the seasons change, the sky, earth, mountains and rivers repeat in patterns that are never really quite the same. In my search for the variations of the many faces in nature, I have found that nature provides an infinite source of inspiration for artistic expression. I love the many elements in our environment, be they as broad as the horizon beyond or small as cells under the microscope. In this vast setting, I hope to capture the spirit of the universe, its rhythm and movements, its quiet and angry moods, its colors and forms.

With the traditional Chinese and Western art training, together with my own experiments, I have sought to create techniques that can fully express my ideas and feelings. The techniques may vary greatly from painting to painting, as to embody the scope of my expression. The reference to nature is the focus of all my paintings. I have found that painting in water media - acrylic demands an absolute control of the medium to achieve the various effects, textures, and transparencies. The scale of the painting is a challenge, but not a limitation for me. To produce on canvas or paper what I have in my mind, my ideas and feelings on the universe, is a great challenge.

Marlene TSENG-YU

Lives and works in Long Island City, NY

Education

1967 MFA University of Colorado at Boulder

1960 BFA, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2013 Forces of Nature and Dream Series: 50 Years of Creation, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts Kaohsiung, Taiwan

2012 ICE: Melting Glaciers and Avalanche Paintings, 1965-2012, Fort Collins Museum of Art, Colorado

2012 Turquoise Floating: Paintings and Works on Paper, 1970-2012, ACA Galleries, New York, NY

2011 Forms Environmental, Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art, Las Vegas, NV

2010 Forces of Nature - Green Movement in Art, 1971-2007, Magma Arte & Congresos, Costa Adeje de Tenerife, Spain

2010 Nature & Cosmos, 1966-2010, Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens, NY

2010 Forces of Nature, 1971-2007, Centro de Arte La Recova, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

2010 Forces of Nature & Green Movement in Art, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2009 Forces of Nature Green Movement in Art, 1971-2009, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

2009 Forces of Nature Green Movement in Art, 1971-2009, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, NY

2008 Forces of Nature - Mural-Sized Paintings, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2008 Forces of Nature - 40 Years, Crossing Art, Flushing NY

2008 Forces of Nature - 40 Years, National Gallery in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic 

2007    "Melina" Municipal Cultural Centre of Athens, "Glacier Melting - 40 years," Athens, Greece

2006 Forces of Nature, 1971-2006, Towson University, Center for the Arts, Towson, MD 

2006 Forces of Nature – Mural-Sized Paintings, Burgenländische Landesgalerie, Eisenstadt, Austria

2006 Forces of Nature – Mural-sized Paintings, 2003, Orangerie Schloss Esterházy, Eisenstadt, Austria 

2005 Forces of Nature – 40 years of Art, 1965-2005 Queensborough College Art Museum. Queens, NY

2005 Forces of Nature – Oversize Paintings, 1998-2005, Art Museum, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Selected Group Exhibitions

2012 Co-Evolution & Complementarity, ICI Kulturlabor Institute of Cultural Inquiry, Berlin, Germany 

2012 Forces of Nature Art Hamptons, Bridgehampton, NY

2012 Nature through the Lens, Rainforest Art Foundation, Long Island City, NY

2010 I am the Cosmos, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ

2010 6th Rainforest Art Show, Rainforest Art Foundation, Long Island City, NY

2008 Meditation in Contemporary Chinese Landscape, Godwin-Ternbach Museum at Queens College, Queens, NY

2008 International Art, Miami Art Fair, Miami, FL

2006 Female Language, Lincoln Center Cork Gallery, New York, NY

2006 People of the Mind, Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, MN

2006 Ecology Earth Art Show 21, The Museum of Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan 

2006 Body – Fact of Human Body, Asian Fusion Gallery, New York, NY

2005 Revelation, Asian Fusion Gallery, New York, NY

2005 Rainforest Art Show, Asian Cultural Center, New York, NY

20055th Ecology Earth Art Show 21,  Museum of Modern Art, Saitama-Ken, Japan 

2005 Reasons to Love the Earth Show, Leeuwenberch, Utrecht, Netherlands 

2005 Metropolitan Chinese American Women Show, Chung-Cheng Art Gallery, St. John’s University, Queens, NY

2005 Grand Opening – Asian Fusion, Asian Cultural Center, New York, NY

2004 San Jose Museum of Art, “35th Anniversary Acquisition Show”, California, USA

2004 NEXUS: Taiwan in Queens, Queens Museum, Queens, NY