Liminal Light and Shadow - Chu-ying Lai's Nihonga Works

By Kao Yung-lung (Professor, Arts Department, National Taichung University of Education)

The historical development of Taiwanese Nihonga painting, from near disappearance to its present vitality, can be regarded as one of the most radiant artistic movements in Taiwan’s art history. This movement has unfolded alongside political and cultural change, the aesthetics of each era, and the dynamics of the art market. Its styles have evolved from colonial Japanese influences and local Taiwanese color, through encounters with Western painting and the fusion of Chinese ink traditions, to the impact of contemporary artistic thought. As times have shifted, Taiwanese Nihonga  painting has revealed the distinct character of successive generations. Even within the postmodern, global artistic vocabulary, it continues to harbour boundless creative energy.

Nihonga painting places particular emphasis on the aesthetic value of materials. The intrinsic beauty and decorative qualities of glue-based pigments, melding ancient media with contemporary thinking, have shaped a new and influential current within Taiwan’s art world and become a rising favorite in the art market, attracting new creators to this field. Among the younger generation of Nihonga  artists, Chu-Ying Lai stands out as both distinctive and highly anticipated. His works have been awarded First Prize in the Nihonga category of the National Art Exhibition three times, the top award in the New Taipei City Art Exhibition twice, and First Prize (Da Dun Award) in the Taichung Da Dun Fine Arts Exhibition. These brilliant achievements testify to the recognition and accomplishment he has attained in his creative practice.

Compared with many of today’s Nihonga painters, Lai approaches the medium with a broader vision, more diverse techniques, and a bold, expansive touch. He transcends the current trend that focuses primarily on the material beauty of glue pigments, delving instead into the profound relationship between humanity and nature. His treatment of light and shadow is especially subtle and meticulous. In his paintings, light is no longer merely natural illumination; he adjusts and transforms it so that light and shadow acquire symbolic and suggestive meanings – an externalization of the artist’s inner world. From the perspective of artistic creation, every artist seeks a light suited to the expression of their subject. This is a conscious search, and when light becomes a visual language for conveying emotion, that search manifests as deliberate adjustment and choice. Thus we encounter a wholly different kind of Nihonga  painting – one that surpasses familiar modes of expression. Enveloped in luminous halos, the scenes in his works are filled with a vigorous sense of life; forms cease to be mere shapes and instead radiate a warm, luminous, and hazy glow, revealing a realm of transcendence.

To view Chu-Ying’s Nihonga  paintings is to partake in a rich and dazzling visual feast. His precise depiction of forms moves from the tangible to the illusory; layers of texture unfold; atmospheres shift between the real and the imagined; delicate gradations of light and shadow fluctuate and dissolve. The viewer’s emotions rise and fall in response – bright or dim, clear or mysterious, tranquil or unrestrained – becoming immersed in the world of light and shadow he creates.

The works exhibited on this occasion record the trajectory of his creative journey over recent years. One can only look forward with great anticipation to where the path of Nihonga painting will lead him in the future.

– Kao Yong-Long 
Professor, Department of Fine Arts National Taichung University of Education