TAIWANESE LO CHAN PENG EXPLORES WHAT LIES UNDER THE SURFACE OF OUR FACES. A SEARCH FOR SOMETHING SPIRITUAL, SOMETHING HOLY AND MYSTERIOUS - IMPOSSIBLE TO TRANSLATE INTO WORDS
CARMEN HUST | ARTICULATE #20 | JULY 2019 Taiwanese visual artist Lo Chan Peng (1983), has always been exploring the inner feelings sensed by human kind. Peng explores what lies under the surface of our faces, a search for something spiritual, something holy and mysterious, something impossible to translate into words. Its complexity, covering opposing elements such as chaos and order, faith and doubt, liberation and imprisonment, enables Lo Chan Peng and his feeling of being torn between extremes, with a wide gap between here and the opposite shore, and places his work in the middle. What shall we do and how shall we live? Peng believes he’s been summoned by art, with a force indescribable in words. Happiness and pain, anger and enjoyment co-exist during the entire process. Peng do not have an answer to what generates his passion for the arts, for it is as essential to him, as breathing in order to survive. The preferred media to Lo Chan Peng is oil and Chinese ink, as these materials each have their individual charm. According to Peng, oil and ink are the mediums which potentially can preserve “the warmth of men”.
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The works of Lo Chan Peng are both pre-thought and also emerges on their own. Some works linger in his brain for as long as a year, yet it can also appear out of nowhere from time to time. He’s always used portraits as a portal to express the inner feelings that one often hides within. To Peng, the hidden elements below the surface are holy, mysterious and are translated into words with great difficulty. The complex existence of chaos and order, unfaithful and religious, freedom and captivity. Peng often finds himself on the extreme sides of the balance, with a wide space in between. He intends to find the perfect balance and seeks for the purist nature of life.
Lo Chan Peng describes his creative process to be lacking prearranged structure. He believes awareness can be raised and imagination to spur around the subject, in the absence of “planning”. Most of the time he’s writing down his thoughts in a notebook, for them to potentially merge into something, someday. Other times, he encounters subjects parallel with his interests. Lo Chan Peng works around the subjects occupying his thoughts and often let them linger in his head for months, before he attempts to transfer them onto canvases. |
When asked what he believes is a key element in creating a good composition, Lo Chan Peng answers that he do not believe in perfection; hence he’s continually working, just like Sisyphus. In Greek mythology Sisyphus was the king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). He was punished for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down when it nears the top, repeating this action for eternity. To Peng, creating itself is just as ridiculous as the labor Sisyphus endures.
Lo Chan Peng is influenced by many different artists from different eras and regions, though he mostly admires those who work with paintings, as he’s passionate about the handcraft and man-made products. This article about LO CHAN PENG takes part of ARTICULATE #20. Read, download or order your print version of the full publication below
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