Leigh Wen 鄭麗雲 www.leighwen.com
Petite Blue 3, 2013
Oil on Canvas 22 x26 inches
My paintings express my personal and cultural histories. Having grown up on the island of Taiwan, I have a deep affinity for the elemental power of water and the forces of nature. Now living in America, I feel the ebb and flow of competing cultures. The ancient philosophies of my homeland, which teach self-discipline and selflessness, collide and mingle with Western notions of ego, alienation, and desire.
My working method is a process of subtraction from darkness to light. 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, and then regained, only to be lost again. Simplicity and harmony exist within the chaos.
Ms. Wen resides in New York City as a full time artist. She has exhibited nationally and internationally since early 1980's. She was born in Taipei, Taiwan. She received her BFA from Washington State University, MA and MFA from the State University of New York at Albany. In 1979, she won the First Prize in Painting in the Ten Outstanding Young Talents Competition in Taiwan. In 1980, she was awarded Outstanding Merit in the Young Artists in Asia Now competition in Hong Kong. In 1995 and 1996, her work was selected in many national and international jury shows including the ninth and tenth Parkside National Small Print Exhibition, Large Small Work '95 International, Small Works International, First Annual National Juried Small Work Exhibition in New York, NY. These shows are highly competitive and are chosen from thousands of submissions.
Leigh won the SUNY Albany Purchase Award in 1995 the University of Wisconsin Purchase Award in the 1995 Parkside National Small Print Exhibition. She was also awarded an Artist grant by the National Taiwan Art and Humanity Foundation in support of her solo exhibitions in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. A catalog entitled The Harbour and the Open Sea was published by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Leigh was awarded a 1997 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. In 1997 she was honored “the Artist Award of 1997” by New York State Assembly.
In 1998, Leigh’s work was selected by juror Linda Weintraub to be included in The New York State Biennal Exhibition at The New York State Museum. Also, Juror Lela Hersh, Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the Chicago Contemporary Museum of Art, selected Leigh’s work for inclusion in the annual Mohawk Hudson Region Juried Exhibition. Leigh received First Prize. Her painting, Untitled #6, was purchased by the Albany Institute of History & Art for the permanent collection.
In 1999 and 2005 she was awarded Artist Grants by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Since 1999, her paintings have selected to be part of the Art in Embassies Program of the United States Department of State and have exhibited in the U.S. Embassies in Jordan, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Botswana, Barbados, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In 2005, the Art in Embassies Program purchased the three paintings were exhibited in Barbados Embassy, for their permanent collections. Leigh was awarded a 1997 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. And, in 2000, she was honored both New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and The Helena Rubinstein Fellowship.
Hundreds of her works were included both private and public collections. Her paintings had been featured in many major magazines included Art in America, New American Paintings, Art in Asia, Asian Art News, Vogue, Better home and Gardens, Harper’s Bazaar, Architecture, Water Front Home and Design, San Diego Home and Garden and Interior.
出生於台北縣鶯歌鎮，1985年紐約大學藝術碩士 ( M.A.)，1994年紐約大學美術碩士 (M. F. A.)，現定居美國紐約，全職藝術創作者。曾於大學任教10年，決定從事專業繪畫己近20年，1980年被選入圍亞洲十大傑出才藝青年，1983年遠渡重洋到美國留學，2002年曾旅行到西班牙的北邊＂卡特濃那＂藝術村做了一系列的＂大地＂作品。先後獲得1999和2005年藝術家研究獎金，傑克生帕洛克基金會(Pollock-Krasner Foundation)1997和2000，藝術家聯盟獎，紐約藝術基金會(NYFA). 在2001參加義大利佛羅倫斯雙年展，獲得繪畫米提其 ”Lorenzo Il Magnifico”獎章。她的作品有列入美國多數美術館收藏.加上主要企業界及私人收藏近300件。
目前是美國聯邦政府的合約畫家，作品展覽於世界各國的美國大使館，曾經展出在約旦、菲律賓、新加坡、包貝多斯領事館，在2006年被美國政府指派到非洲的包茲瓦納 （Botswana）作為文化大使。考查當地的藝術文化。同時也與主要代表的非洲藝術家作交流與講學。Barbados Embassy包貝多斯大使舘的三件作品被美國聯邦政府收購為永久典藏。 也是唯一列入美國國家收藏之台湾藝術家。
除了從事全職藝術創作.她目前正在籌備數個國際展覽專案，Beacon 比根藝術進駐計劃，並為藝術商業雜誌之紐約專欄作者。
藝術家自述
我的繪畫表達了個人與文化的歷史。在臺灣島長大的我對於水的基本力量與大自然懷抱著一種深刻的親密感。身為住在美國的中國人，我感到文化競爭的退潮與氾濫。在家鄉中誨人自律與無私的古代哲理已和西方世界的自我、疏離與欲望相抵觸、相混雜。我的創作方法是從黑暗到光明的一種過程。我以暗沈的顏料覆蓋在較明亮的底色上，趁著顏料未乾之際再用尖筆刻入其中，透過所產生的獨立線條帶出作品的中心主題。這些頻繁律動的線條在畫布上流洩，在畫面上創造出深度與隆起。其自身則有東西於糾結中失去、再現，然後再度失去。簡單與和諧就存在於世界的混亂中。色彩乃用來擴展作品的情感範圍。在我的調色盤裡，顏色並非如表面所需，而是出自藝術中抒情與精神上的需要。我完成一系列關於西方宇宙論中四元素的大型繪畫作品，每幅大型作品都會應用到基本波浪圖形，而所完成的系列也將成為探索無垠宇宙的一個豐富整體。
Education:
1994 M.F.A. University at Albany, State University of New York, NY
1985 M.A. University at Albany, State University of New York, NY
1984 B.F.A. Washington State University, WA
1981 B.A. National College of Art, Taipei, Taiwan
Selected Honors and Awards
2013 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Poland, Warsaw
2012 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Namibia
2012 Yu-Shang Competition, First Place and Purchase Award, Taiwan
2011 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Copenhagen, Denmark
2010 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Taiwan
2008 Botswana Cultural Exchange Program,
U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affair
2006 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Hong-Kong
2006 Taiwan President Office, Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, Taiwan
2006 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Botswana
2006 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Barbados
2005 Artist Grant, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, NY, NY.
2003 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies, Manila, the Philippines
2002 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Malaysia
2003 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies, Singapore
2002 Artist Residency, sponsored by Centre D'Art I Natura, Farrera De Pallars, Spain
2001 Fourth Place in Painting, Lorezo Il Magnifico Award. The Biennial Internationale
Dell’Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Florence, Italy
2001 Sotheby’s -New York Foundation for the Arts Fellows’ exhibition, NY, NY
Selected Solo Shows
2014 Art Solo 14 Art Fair
2013 Mingshan Art, Taiwan
2013 Asia Art Center, Taiwan
2012 Fond Museum, Beijing, China
2012 Modern Art Gallery, Taiwan
2012 LWFA, New York, NY
2011 Mingshan Art Gallery, Taiwan
2010 Modern Art Gallery, Taiwan
2009 Glass Garage Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2009 Allen Sheppard, New York, NY
2008 The Beacon Institute, Beacon, NY
2007 Allen Sheppard Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Glass Garage Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2007 Red Door Gallery, Richmond, VA
2007 Haen Gallery, Asheville, NC
2006 Howard Salon, Taipei, Taiwan
2006 Carla Massoni Gallery, Chestertown, MD
2005 The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
2005 Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for Arts, Atlanta, GA
2003 Scott White Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
2001 Elementos, Reed Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2000 The Four Elements, Conclusion of Pollock-Krasner Grant, Arnot Art Museum, NY.
2000 The Four Elements, Lung Men Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Collections
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
UC San Diego, CA
Sun Products Corporate, Wilton, CT
SL Green Development, New York, NY
Barclays Capital, New York, NY
Barclays Capital, Calgary, Alberta CANADA
Eileen Mason, Deputy of National Endowments of the Arts
United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program
Butler Institute of American Art
Freshens Inc. Atlanta, GA
Siena College
Albany Institute of History & Art
University at Albany, State University of New York
University of Wisconsin, Parkside, WI
Art Pool, Budapest, Hungary
Phoenix Life Insurance Company
National Taiwan College of Art
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Museum
Bullard, McLeod and Associates, and over 100 private collections
Selected Group Shows
2014 Changhua International Exchange Exhibition Taiwan
2012 Portsmouth Museum, NH
2011 The Haen Gallery
2011 LWFA Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Mingshan Art, Taipei, Taiwan
2009 Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA
2008 Sculpture in the Streets
Downtown Albany Business Improvement District, Albany, NY
2002-6 Art in Embassies Program, the Philippines, Jordan, Singapore, Barbados, China, and
Moscow, United States Department of State, USA
2006 Taiwan president Office, Taipei, Taiwan
2006 2 X 13 Gallery, NY, NY
2006 Allen Sheppard Gallery, NY, NY
2005 Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD
2005 Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
2005 Carla Massoni Gallery, Chestertown, MD
2004 Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery, Pasadena, CA
2004 Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, VA
2004 John Pence Gallery/Arnot Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
2002 Scott White Contemporary Art
2002 Beyond the Landscape, University of California, San Diego, University Gallery, CA
2001 Florence Biennale, Florence, Italy
2001 Re-presenting Representation, Corning Incorporated Gallery, New York, NY
2000 Zone of Myth: Between Tenderness and Tension, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taiwan
1999 Visions of Pluralism, Contemporary Art in Taiwan, National Taipei History Museum, Taiwan, R.O.C.
1999 Two-Person Show, Art Music Dance, The Art Center Gallery, Saratoga