"Shui-Shui Taiwan-women Ein-Dau Taiwan-men-
Min-Jung Lee's 2011 Portrait Project"

The portrait project started out as an experiment
At the beginning, all I had was a jumble of shapeless ideas and fragments in my mind
I wondered what what I could do for this world
as someone who knew nothing but painting
So I gathered my courage and launched this project
Portraits betray my usual mode of expression
but if you do not capture the sitter’s likeness
people will find them hard to grasp
At first, most of my artist friends were quite taken aback by my approach

For the past five or six years
I have been living with Miss Peggy Wang
and have come in to contact with some religious thoughts
I have grown aware that reality is built on action and not just words
Aware of the power of love between one person and the other
Aware of the present
Aware

I grew up in a home with paintings on the wall
works by my grandfather Tsai-Fu Lee and my father Ren-chin Lee
Their presence made me happy
So I thought, would it not be nice if every home contained some artwork?
Maybe it would make Taiwanese people happier

Art should not be confined to museums
in such a specific spaces, everyone carries a certain tension
My understanding of art is that you need to sit down and absorb it slowly
Yet most people hardly get a chance to enjoy art in peace
If everyone can play computer games at home uninterruptedly
then why should they not be able to do so with art?

Most people shy away from art and galleries
the atmosphere and prices indeed create anxiety
I thought it would be a beautiful thing
if art could be present in the homes of hard-working, ordinary people
but where do you find such work?
Let me try then

Christmas 2010, I thought about St. Nicholas
and how he spared what little he had to the poor and needy
I wished I could give like that
The feeling grew stronger until
I dared to post a tentative question on Facebook
“If you received a painting, would it make you happy?”
And the thoughts in my head clicked with the real world

I did not really paint the portraits for free
After practical considerations, I decided to charge $5000 for each
This price is on a fuzzy line
Between selling and giving, although hopefully more giving

At first I was very worried that my gallery would disagree
but soon I received positive feedback and was able to carry on
Mr. Ming-Xun Yeh from the Main Trend Gallery told me
I could exhibit with them if I needed a space
Mr. Dan Jian from L'Orangerie Gallery helped promote the project
and found many participants
and Mr. Xian-Cheng Ou from the InSian Gallery brought in the entire team
to take part in the project
I am deeply grateful to them
for enabling me to carry on carefree

I am also very grateful that so many people like my paintings
My intention was to give them half away
but instead I gained even more in return
The execution of this project taught me the meaning of
“giving is better than receiving”
In future, I shall continue to offer myself to the audience
and contribute to society with my life