| Illustrating what he calls the “cultural contrast,” Hu Zhi-Ying brings together traditional Chinese art with the eclectic styles of the West. He combines traditional Chinese symbolism and landscape with the elements of the various styles of Western art all coming together to create something more than art—something equal to the real world. Using Chinese varnish, silver, and gold powder with traditional ink oils and acrylics, Hu is able to create a unique style that pierces into the soul. In his paintings Astronomy I and Astronomy III Hu is able to create landscapes that draw in your eyes, losing you in the colors and depth of the paintings. |  |
Vanessa Austen
Illustrating what he calls the “cultural contrast,” Hu Zhi-Ying brings together traditional Chinese art with the eclectic styles of the West. He combines traditional Chinese symbolism and landscape with the elements of the various styles of Western art all coming together to create something more than art—something equal to the real world. Using Chinese varnish, silver, and gold powder with traditional ink oils and acrylics, Hu is able to create a unique style that pierces into the soul. In his paintings Astronomy I and Astronomy III Hu is able to create landscapes that draw in your eyes, losing you in the colors and depth of the paintings. On top of traditional landscape backgrounds swirls of color in red and blue pop out, flow, drip, and force your eyes to move around, while bright white lightning strikes in the foreground creating pieces, as Hu says, “imply a dark, mysterious world lurking beneath the dazzling surface.”
In his Buddhist Scriptures I Hu, using acrylic, ink, and charcoal on silk, creates a depth that is ominous, foreboding, and beautiful. Reminiscent of his Astrology I and III with the climbing “vines” and landscape style, Buddhist Scriptures I looks like the mysterious underside of what we see every day. In this painting Hu shows us his cultural contrast—the bright world with the mysterious other side that can stand alongside life and art equally.
