Su Yu-Xin's paintings evoke place, poetry, and power. To attempt to summarize her work feels clumsy, and inevitably overlooks aspects of the artist’s practice. ‘Conceptual landscape’ falls short, for these are as much critical-conceptual strategies as material manifestations of her love of painting at its most labor intensive. Su’s tableaux, oftentimes rendered on wood, evoke memories of displaced or vanished dwellings and cataclysmic events - in one case, a volcanic eruption, which quite literally gave birth to the materials used in the painting (Smoke Engulfs, 2022). Now based in LA, she is originally from Hualien, Taiwan; She studied for her Masters at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, while her undergraduate education took place in Taipei. Her initial training in traditional ink wash is evident in her airy compositions, while an ongoing series of book-sized paintings, convey her fascination with literature. Throughout her work Su blends a diverse range of concepts and materials to highly original lyrical effect.
March 8, 2023