Artist Statement:
It’s always been about light and shadow. The quality of light; the clarity or translucence, the hue or the lack of color, and what it allows one to see or disallows the same, has captivated my attention since childhood. With that, the interplay of shadow is light’s compliment. Whether the shadow is dense or slight, hard edged or soft, reflective of color, draws me into the setting. This how I see the dance of the subject, a certain rapport between the light and the shadow. Do they make magic together or just complete the steps?

My father was an internationally renowned watercolorist. As a young girl I watched him paint, and as I began to understand his craft I realized that despite all the beauty of his brush stroke, the bold use of color (his trademark), the gesture or implied motion, there was no shadow. This may have been the impetus for my study of how light and shadow plays such an important role in Western Painting. I would say that my Chinese background has imbued me with the value of composition and the definitive character of stroke, while Western training allows me to explore my world in oil, egg tempera, mixed media, charcoal & ink.

Life drawing was not my first exposure to sculpting with light, but it clarified my thinking. I enjoyed the process immensely and I was fortunate to be guided by Harry Carmean, one of the masters of the process. My progression into painting hopefully has carried with it that same sense of light and the affect it has on our world.