Artist Chion-Yao Chen gave a lecture on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 4:30 p.m. in Harvey Hall.
Chion-Yao Chen was born and raised in Taiwan, also known as “Formosa,” according to Chen, which means “the beautiful island.”
Chen started her lecture with a quote from Soren Kierkegaard that reads, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Chen held this quote very close in 1982 when she first came to the United States.
She explained how she had a perfect life growing up, which played a big part in becoming the artist she is today.
“I grew up with a supportive family,” Chen said. “My family gave me a sense of security.”
Chen explained how her art pieces stemmed from growing up and coming to America. She loved the home she was raised in and also made a home here in the South, where she currently lives.
Chen worked in a 1945-year-old printshop and from a young age was taught calligraphy. Whether it was in her art class or after school, she always had to practice calligraphy.
These two things played a huge part in her piece “Wang Xizhi,” which was running script calligraphy and an art piece dedicated to woodcut and printing.
Chen also adopted her nephew, a significant milestone in her life, and she is very proud of that moment. She made an art piece called “Juggler” that includes the elements of time, seasons and all of the things she loves, including her son.
Chen traveled to New York for three years after she left grad school. New York City inspired a lot of her works, specifically “Transient, New York,” a piece dedicated to looking at New York from her perspective.
“When you go to New York, one thing you do is look,” Chen said. “You just look.”
“It’s kind of weird,” Abby Jones, a sophomore psychology major, said. “Art never made me feel a certain way, but for some reason, this piece made me want to go visit New York. Something about it seems so sincere and honest. I love it.”
“I’m just collecting what I see,” Chen said as she took a picture of the whole room and gave her closing remarks.
