2016 Life in Color

Taichung Rich Art Exhibition

Text by Ming-Hsuan Wu

Stephen’s works demonstrate different types of beauty in various forms. Artworks are often unapproachable and alien to the public; they are neither easily accessible nor appreciated. Peng, as an artist, paints what he sees and feels, using his paint brush to examine spiritual experience and discover the beauty of life. His works thus are the multifaceted manifestations of physical, spiritual, and various types of aesthetic experience.

Having travelled around the world, Peng’s revelations about life during his journeys in different countries are intertwined with his art. His traveling deeply affects the colors used in his works.

Once a fashion designer who sought breakthroughs in the commercial market, Peng’s creative mind is present in his lifestyle and art creation in different forms. His colorful and generous character can be found everywhere apart from his art. Moreover, his amicable interaction with society as well as his ventures into the fields of art, fashion, and business were an astounding attempt in an era where life was only about daily practicality.

The bright colors in his works symbolize great imagination and ideas. Just like artworks triggering visual and other sensuous experience, fashion is also a medium that conveys the message of beauty. 

“Art is a magical process to me. My heart and hands decide what I paint in the beginning. Yet, I will gradually be guided by the painting itself and my creative flow. They are like an invisible hand that brings me into a subtle realm. At this point, it is as if I were in a no man’s land and the whole space is only left with the painting and paint brush.”  ──Stephen Peng

“I pay constant attention to different people and different things. They might appear for a transient moment, but enough to trigger my desire to make art. These various kinds of people might represent some colors, some sort of flow, and they will magically transform into elements for my creation, and eventually appear in my works in completely different forms.” ──Stephen Peng

Peng’s art is pure and serene. As he focuses on the moment, he confronts his art and the surroundings while accommodating his own self with poise; he feels the deep and throbbing desire to
create art in his body.

As a person of a perceptive mind, Peng uses mature and refined colors and strokes to lead the viewer into the worlds in his art so that they can find out how beauty is embodied in
art as well as its mysteries. 

Peng’s colors are clean and composed. The vibrant atmosphere emanated by his works shows his mature techniques. The long horizontal canvas surrounds the viewer, while his paintings and creative flow make him a messenger bringing art into an invisible space where the viewer can gain pure visual pleasure in looking at his art. At the moment when the space flows, Peng records it with spirituality and ruminant realization. It is more than that moment; his works also create a certain status where past and future elements overlap. The images in his mind are projected onto his paintings. His profuse style suggests the abundant experience amassed through his mind and strength.

Originally published in Art.Investment/2016 November No.109