SO KUEN FAI

So Kuen Fai
Australia

Art is an inseparable part of my life. It allows me to channel my emotions, reactions and communications with the outside world. Although my training is in oil, Chinese painting and Chinese calligraphy, I also find photography an effective way of expression. My intention is to capture and express my direct and spontaneous emotions at certain moments through the contrasts, tones, textures, and compositions.

The abstract shapes, the aesthetic forms of the lotuses, through the dots, planes, lines and time element have stimulated my imagination. Alfred Stieglitz's attempts to free the subject matter from literal interpretations and his "Mountain and Sky" series have inspired this series. My artworks are inspired by Taoism and Zen Buddhism and I am interested in the spiritual aspects of art which emphasizes the relationship between man and nature.

I am fascinated by the spiritual and the abstract elements of the lotuses. Their life cycle from full bloom to withering is like a condensed picture of a human's life cycle--short, with death being inevitable.

As I was taking the pictures, I was able to visualize the contrasts between the bloom and imminent decay, beauty and ugliness, birth and death, happiness and sadness, and how they mirror experiences in our own lives.

I took these pictures in Hangzhou, China, a place toward which I have a strong sense of attachment and feeling. I studied oil painting at the China Academy of Art there, and one of my ancestors who was a writer, poet and calligrapher, governed Hangzhou during the Song Dynasty.

So Kuen FaiAustralia

more of Larry's work here

So Kuen Fai
Australia