The River

作品賞析

Artist Chen Pei-Yun’s creations skillfully blend tradition and contemporary art. Based on the form of traditional East Asian “beauty paintings,” they present social issues in modern Taiwan. Her work The River is inspired by director Tsai Ming-liang’s film of the same title, in which family members who were originally estranged, are reunited through a specific opportunity. Chen Pei-Yun downplays the gender image of the characters in the painting, and uses the details of the background to depict the character’s personality and family atmosphere. Revealing the delicate technique and hazy colors, the artwork conveys the unspoken tacit understanding among family members in the past regarding the sexual orientation of their loved ones. Chen Pei-Yun uses the traditional technique of coloring on silk, adding layers of colors to give her works a soft, transparent, and dreamlike visual effect. Through this pastel atmosphere, the artist conveys Taiwan’s modern gender and family issues, and also attempts to reverse the established framework of past beauty paintings that only show women’s appearance.