Abstract vocabularies have long been the major form of my artistic expressions. I have tried to use different elements in my artworks to interpret my recognition of abstract art in different stages of my life. As a whole, I think that the essence of art is affluent. As abstract art has developed for over the course of a century, I hope that my art works could reflect the changes of time and society, and furthermore contemplate about the position of abstract art against the historical context and social structure.

Abstract art in the early twentieth century seeks to devoid of any evident reference to the world of appearances by non-representative expressions to reveal the essence of physical objects. This approach provides the art world new aesthetic experiences, albeit distancing the viewers from the artists. Whereas, this unique artistic approach that closes to the inner world of artists and full of self-representation may not be given up by the abstract artists. Yet with the strong force of knowledge construction, the abstract artists in the late 1980s started alert to the fact that abstract art has just become another pronoun of representative art. In other words, the viewers can instantly categorize a non-representative artwork into the category of abstract art and interpret the artwork based on their knowledge and understanding of abstract art. Abstract art for the viewers has become a concrete form of expressions. This “concreteness” of the contemporary abstract art is the result derives from the consolidation of knowledge construction, which makes the abstract art today not only self-referential but also filled with codes of pluralism and polysemy. With my artistic creations, I hope that I can explore the new direction and dimension for the development of abstract art. In the meantime, I intended to express what I think about the issues of constructing and deconstructing the visual cultural codes, and my reflection about abstract art versus the changes of current arts ecology.

According to the reality stated above, I’m concerned about the question as to what are the key factors defining the abstract art in an era of post-modernism when the social structure has changed significantly. Among all the methodologies of art interpretations, the icon-oriented interpretation is nothing new. But the reason which makes the methodology still intriguing and popular are the messages provided by the visual culture constantly adding new meanings to the codes. In the system of knowledge construction, the dividing line to distinguish the codes of universal and particular or reality and non-reality is where the meaning of faith lies.

When the meanings of different visual elements interconnect, they also connect with cultural experiences corresponding to the meanings of time and space. For me, it is this intertextuality that creates the double characters of codes including pluralism and polysemy. Therefore, we do not need to force ourselves back to the rigid patterns of understanding abstract art in the early 20th century to perceive the contemporary abstract artworks. Instead, we can try to connect with our time using our imagination and free association, and based on our own understanding of reality to experience, to feel and to read the artworks.

However, any text can be interpreted in different ways, as ideology can be deconstructed at any time. The interpretation of the texts is inseparable with the construction of media culture. One of the key elements should be reality-oriented factor. I hope that the images in my artworks can more or less remind the viewers of their own life experiences. Either organism abstract codes or geometry abstract codes, when they are in juxtaposition the code-reading relationship is occurred. When these codes which are seemingly irrelevant to the world of appearances and almost unrecognizable are in juxtaposition, how does the reading of the codes constitute the meanings?

When the actions of reading occurred, the actions of thinking is also initiated simultaneously. It is a flowing process, which keeps impacting our senses and our recognition toward history and culture. Codes are often regarded as a kind of rules and convention. The question of recognizing the codes has become comparative issues in both public and private sphere. The actions of “decoding” in fact have already touched upon the introduction of common codes. Therefore, the actions of codes reading represent the constitution of readers’ ideology. Comparatively speaking, it also signifies the fact that the readers choose to refuse the inherent ideology or oppose to the reality. The duality of reality is the aesthetic dimension which I’m interested to explore. Taking the contraditory attitute does not mean to emphasize the single dimension of the meaning, instead, it is in fact the true existence of the other side of reality.

All the new artworks in this exhibition as a whole express my personal reflection about abstract art in the current situation of art world. It also represents a continued exploration and discussion about the key factors leading the new direction of abstract art. The process of creation is both intuitional and rational. When I put myself in the role of the reader, I have no intention to simplify those unique codes created by the artist, or to interpret them in order to denote the creativity. My creating experience closely connected to my historical and cultural memory, which also signifies my ideology. As a part of human race and society, I have personally experienced the process of encoding and decoding. In the hybrid reality full of numerous messages and signs, the fluidity of the meaning reflects the mapping relationship between reality and non-reality, universals and particulars in the code-system of visual culture. Whereas, the codes also signify a kind of uncertain relationship between the artist, the art and outside world, which is as ambiguous as faith.