2016 Life in Color
Singapore Nawei Gallery Exhibition
Taiwanese Painter Stephen Peng: Colors of the Mind
Text by Hsiang-Ching Huang
Published on Lianhe Zaobao Singapore December 8, 2016
The 70-year-old Taiwanese painter Stephen Peng returned to Singapore at the end of this year with his second solo exhibition “Life in Color” after his 2013 solo exhibition in Singapore and international traveling exhibition (Biennale in Taiwan, Shanghai, and Italy). During the interview, he said that the theme of this solo exhibition was more tilted toward the changes in his mind in recent years, and most of the 25 large oil paintings reflected his mindset using natural landscapes.
Peng said: “Chinese people have an intriguing adage, ‘in the first 10 years, one sees a mountain and water as they are; in the following 10 years, he/she sees the mountain and water as something else; in the last 10 years, he/she sees again the mountain and water as it is.’ I am especially struck by the last part of this saying. Over the years, I have internalized what I have been through and everything I have seen and avoided from being obsessed with the material world. My perception is blended naturally into my works. The media and methods I use have also changed. As my skills have matured, I mix different techniques and play with the types of canvas so that I don’t lose my personal style while refining my art.”
From Entrepreneur to Painter
Peng transitioned from an entrepreneur to a painter. Born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, his father was a bus driver and his mother was a tailor. He started easing the financial burden of his family at the age of nine. His father had a profound influence on him by enlightening him on how to live, how to be a decent person, and how to create art. Though Peng did not learn from famous painters or emulate a particular art style, he has been painting ever since he could remember.
In high school, Peng was astounded by Young Man in Red. This 1962 oil painting was made by De-Jinn Shiy, a painter who had immigrated to Taiwan from China. In 1969, Peng made a self-portrait in his first exhibition. He said: “That red color was so strong and arresting. Taiwan in that era was imbued with melancholy. However, Shiy expressed such strong emotions with such bright color.”
In order to survive, he gave up full-time painting and started his own business in bag design and OEM in 1972. From 1989 to 1997, he was the Design Director of Benetton Accessories. As the four-color travel luggage he created became a hot seller, he was hired as a bag designer by international brands. Ten years after emigrating to Australia with his family, he established a factory in Shanghai and settled down there. In 2008, he retired and began focusing on painting.
Fan of Teh-Chun Chu and Wou-Ki Zao
The biggest asset of Peng is the 40 years of experience, views, and connections he had gained through running his business. His interaction with different people in different places has contributed to his colorful style. In recent years, he has resumed painting and discovered that he has grown fond of works by two Chinese-French painters: Teh-Chun Chu and Wou-Ki Zao. He enjoys expressing what appears in his mind directly on his canvas. Sometimes it might be a flash of light or fleeting images, but he presents colors without constraints in his works. He never tires of making art every day and has endless inspiration. He described his art journey as getting better and better now.
