We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ming Chen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ming below.
Alright, Ming thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Art has become a significant part of my life when I approached the age of 45, though my artistic journey started around the age of eight or nine. However, there were not many opportunities or freedom to pursue a career as an artist by then in China. Guided by my teachers and parents, I was admitted to one of China’s esteemed universities, Minzu University （formerly the Central University for Nationalities）, where I pursued double degrees in Chinese Literature and Economics. This university’s uniqueness lay in its diversity, representing all 56 ethnic groups of China and international students, profoundly impacting my life with its multicultural and intellectual environment. During my university years, I traveled extensively across culturally and geographically diverse regions of China, like Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Shanxi, and Hainan etc. In each place, I immersed myself in the local colors, scents, textures, weather, languages, cuisines, beliefs, fauna, flora, and people, absorbing and recording their essence. My previous career in marketing, advertising, and public relations allowed me to access a variety of resources and information on arts, music, and intangible cultural heritage. In my early years in Beijing, I planned and organized numerous large-scale performances, art exhibitions, academic lectures, and community events. I met many of China’s contemporary artists (such as Yongyu Huang, Xiangting Li, and Yuwen Zhang) and writers (like Zhaohua Ji), who greatly inspired and influenced me. While working for Oriental Sun City, I founded and edited a newspaper, “Sunshine Express,” observing and documenting everything happening there.
From 2005 to 2007, I completed a master’s program in Developmental Psychology at Beijing Normal University. In the years following my graduation, I delved into various schools of psychotherapy, gaining deeper insights into interpersonal relationships, the relationship between humans and nature, self, and the laws governing our inner-world and the universe. My innate empathy, coupled with my acute, sensitive, and intuitive nature, often led me to introspect: What is the meaning of life? What value do we hold in this universe? Which moments in life allow us to experience and perceive eternity?
With these thoughts and questions, I picked up the paintbrushes again after a long time in the fall of 2013 (starting with watercolor classes at a community center in Mountain View). This was shortly after moving to the United States—a place where my great dream was reborn. From watercolor to acrylics, I enjoyed the feeling of the brush soaked in paint, gliding across the canvas. I loved hiking with friends, as much as I cherished solitude at home. I experienced the seasons, took care of my family, and observed everything around my home — plants, butterflies, hummingbirds, squirrels, and lizards.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
“Feeling and Recording: Moments as Eternity”
My art explores the profound connections between humans and nature. It’s driven by a simple impulse towards understanding existence. It is about tranquility in the chaos and the playful spark in the everyday. It finds humor in the unexpected. I believe that once the fleeting moments of life are captured, they become eternal. For me, the meaning of life is found love, light, the moments of inspiration and encouragement, and every genuine smile. We are all here to live, learn, and leave behind a bit of ourselves, contributing to a bigger picture we’re just a part of. My art is my way of documenting these moments, inviting everyone to see the quiet beauty in these moments, the eternal in the ephemeral.
I am inspired by meaningful moments with my family, intriguing occurrences in daily life, and unfamiliar situations when I travel. I document all in my art. By capturing the ever-changing clouds in the sky, the colors and light of different seasons, and the everyday life of my children, I have found answers to the question of what connects human and nature. Through art, I have learned how to transform the transient moments of life into cherished memories.
During two road trips with my family across America, I encountered vast landscapes where hay rolls stand quietly on the land, sometimes alone and other times gathered. The hay rolls became symbols of our journey. They were compact, steadfast, and softly rugged – evoking in me a sense of life’s cycles, energy transformation, and the eternal present in fleeting moments. This series reflects my life journey, filled with wonder, adventure, the unknown, and boundless possibilities.
My use of drones during this trip added a new dimension to my work. Elevating the perspective from the ground to the sky offered me a different and wider-range view of the planet. Viewing the world from this heightened vantage point brought a realization: when we extend our timeline and elevate our perspective, we see the world more broadly. For me, that perspective allows me to experience my life free of worry.
“Snowy Day in Summer Palace” depicts a tender memory from Beijing — my husband and son against the backdrop of a frozen Kunming Lake. I captured this moment of joy as I stood at a distance. We have been spending our everyday life together. Sharing my days alongside them has led to a sense of familiarity, yet in that distant moment, I began to perceive them as independent beings, separate yet connected to me, our family, and the wider world. It is a realization that echoes the interconnectedness of all life. The painting gives an atmosphere of tranquility and solitude, focusing on my husband and son as the central figures. They stand as subjects to be observed and understood within the wideness of nature. It invites the viewers to think about our place in nature and our connection with the world.
My art invites engagement with deep, unspoken narratives. It is born from a path of exploration, challenge, and eventual transformation. Through my observations, I create representational images inspired by the real world, experimenting with various materials and innovative approaches. Throughout this process, I confront the challenges presented by new materials and the pursuit of realistic imagery. My paintings often end up quite different from their initial conception. Starting with a conventional way of applying paint, I diverge from the traditional method of layering. Rather than building up my artwork with additional layers, I embrace the philosophy of removal. This involves stripping away paint from the canvas or peeling off layers of Xuan paper after they have been applied to either canvas or wood panels. This technique eventually transforms the painting, giving it depth and texture. This invites viewers to explore the interplay between presence and absence. Throughout the process, I experience fear, regret, and despair. After repeatedly layering and removing, covering the canvas or wood panels with multiple layers of rice paper and redoing the image five times, I was left with a chaotic blend of grey tones. In a moment of desperation, I decided to tear it apart. But as I ripped off the first piece of rice paper, a realization struck me: I had unwittingly unveiled the art within.
My recent work explores meaningful moments with loved ones. These experiences, much like the layers of Xuan paper, accumulate to reveal deeper truths. For instance, a simple moment enjoying ice cream during a family road trip becomes a beloved memory, captured, and transformed through my art. All of my works center around my observations, personal experiences, and contemplative reflections. Every stroke on the canvas captures fleeting moments, such as the dance of a hummingbird, children’s innocent laughter, or the ever-changing hues of the seasons. These moments are fragments of something larger, encapsulating the essence of life—love, light, and authentic smiles. Each piece is a testament to my journey, a narrative of experiences recorded. I seek to understand and express the fundamental rhythms of the universe: love and light, healing, and the perpetual cycle of life.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The essence of my artistic fulfillment lies in bridging communal connections and emotional articulations through the medium of art. My venture, “Expressions Unfolded: A Community Canvas of Emotions,” is the embodiment of this purpose, harmonizing my psychological expertise with creative expression to navigate the intricate relationship between the individual and the collective.
In this project, I have the privilege of engaging with the youth, who face the relentless pressures of academia and career choices and providing them with a platform to channel their emotional states. This facilitation is not merely about art creation; it’s about initiating a healing process, a form of therapeutic storytelling that allows for individual self-discovery within a supportive community framework.
As these young individuals express themselves on pieces of Xuan paper, they contribute to a collective narrative that becomes a visual diary of their emotional journey. Every “emotional fragment” they create is a microcosm of their inner world, and when these fragments are assembled, they reflect a spectrum of human experiences, forging a powerful statement of unity in diversity.
In my dual role as a facilitator and a fellow creator, I find profound joy and purpose. I guide participants through their emotional landscapes, and at the same time, I am a witness to their growth and self-awareness. The Volunteer Distribution and Collection Approach, coupled with Ming’s Workshop Approach, underlines my dedication to fostering a deeply connected community through art. It is incredibly rewarding to see art transcend its traditional boundaries and become a tool for psychological resilience and communal solidarity. The most rewarding aspect, therefore, is the transformation I observe in the youth as they learn to express and understand their emotions, and in turn, understand each other, epitomizing the true spirit of communal harmony and collective wellbeing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mingchenart.wixsite.com/ming-chen-portfolio
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lady_m.2022/
Image Credits
All pictures by Ming Chen