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In 1998, I began my life as a "study companion," accompanying my children to Canada as they furthered their education. My new life in this foreign country went from the initial excitement and curiosity to a gradual sense of loneliness and displacement. Every time I finished an overseas telephone call, I began to ask myself, "while we are building dreams for our children, who's there to make our own dreams come true?" As I listened to my inner voice intently and seriously, I knew I already had an answer. I decided to return to school, adjust the pace of my daily life, and fully experience everything around me and its impact on me. I shifted among multiple identities: immigrant, companion, mother, student. Trying to cope with identity issues while being in a foreign place, I was confronted by a range of challenges in cultural, linguistic, and emotional terms. With these challenges, change became inevitable and pressure |
also began to surface. All of the challenges, change, and pressure found their way into the content and form of my paintings.
Originally I was a housewife with a very simple life, and painting was merely an outlet for my emotions. However, with the shift of space and time, it gradually became a record of my life, bearing witness to my transformation. I want to convey a sense of exile, leaving one's homeland unwillingly. If the mountains were high enough, one could easily look across the Pacific Ocean from this island (Vancouver Island) and see that island (Taiwan). I walk through the streets of Western cities, trying to define my place in the world. I move among different sceneries, plantations, climates, mentalities, and cultural backgrounds, trying to record everything I see and feel. I use an Eastern mentality and different media as an attempt to show what I see. |
