TWArtists Members highlight: Helen Lin (Chao Lan Fun)趙蘭芬女士: Painter, member since Feb. 2012

www.helenlin.org



趙蘭芬女士 藝術家, 教育家, 攝影家. 1925年生.

自幼靈慧手巧並喜愛藝術. 祖父是秀才, 父親是美術教師. 培養了她對文化及藝術廣泛的才能與興趣. 趙蘭芬女士善長棉紙撕畫, 剪紙, 摺紙, 軟陶藝術, 和攝影.

她獨特的才藝和美勞示範教學在紐約市區及週邊地區遠近知名, 倍受歡迎. 自1986年至今己有長遠的歷史. 大部份華人稱呼她「趙老師」, 也有人稱呼她「林老師」因為她夫君姓林,林瀅,也是紐約區知名的作家書法家. 美籍人士則稱呼趙蘭芬女士「Helen (海倫) Lin」.

趙蘭芬女士曾受紐約知名的大都會美術館 (Metropolitan Museum), 漢蒙博物館 (Hammond Museum),手工藝博物館 (American Craft Museum), 財富500強公司, 紐約香港龍舟節, 紐約公立小學, 紐約大學, 慈善機構, 活動團體, 以及老人中心的邀請, 示範她特有的才藝. 皇后區各圖書館 (Queens Library )更每年和她訂約每週授課. 她也曾在紐約及長島各中文學校教授中文及美勞課長達二十多年.

她是許多華裔及美裔子弟最受歡迎的美勞老師, 也是許多美勞老師的老師. 此外成年人或老年人也都希望向她學習. 她的美勞示範教學永遠是擠著一大群學生. 她豐富的才藝和特殊的教學熱忱, 深深地啟發了少年及成年人的創造力和幻想力.

她不但把藝術的歡樂帶給了她的觀眾和她周圍的人, 更將中華文化及民俗傳統藝術傳給了海外的僑胞及友邦的下一代. 如今八十多歲高齡, 她仍然熱衷於藝術創作及美勞示範.

美國知名的電視台NBC、紐約中文電台、以及多家中英文報紙也都曾報導 過她的示範教學.

趙蘭芬女士的著作 『海外美勞教學範本』 結合了中國和西方民間 藝術的制作技巧和趣味, 深受小朋友、家長和美勞老師們的歡迎.

現為美籍亞裔女性藝術家聯盟 (Asian American Women Artists Alliance - AAWAA)會員, 大紐約地區台灣攝影學會會員, 以及美國滿族學會的會員.

TWArtists Members highlight: Virginia Cheng (鄭啟恭) : writer, member since Feb. 2012

 (鄭啟恭) Virginia Cheng's Samples Writing:

母親的容顏一直是我長久的迷思。想念「母親」時，我腦中浮現的是那懸在我頭頂上
的雙腳，和她吐出的舌頭。這一幕，深深鑄印在我的記憶之中，一直伴隨著我的人
生，始終不曾淡逝。

至於那個我喊他「爸爸」的男人，只依稀記起一個背影，他手中握著酒瓶，走起路來
踉踉蹌蹌。

我不常見到他，每當他在家時，不是對著母親怒吼，就是毆打母親，我總是害怕得躲
進被子裡縮成一團；直到聽見大力甩門的聲音，才趕快爬上窗沿，看那逐漸遠去父親
的背影。

曾經有個穿著高衩旗袍的女子，跟著父親回來過，但不久，他們又一起離開，父親手
中沒有酒瓶，而是一口箱子。那一日，就是我這一生最後一次看見父親。

母親的啜泣，隨著父親與那女人的走遠而越來越大聲，我很害怕，又躲進被子裡縮成
一團。

不知不覺的，我睡著了。醒來時，我到處找不到母親，然後我看到頭頂上有一雙腳。

我號啕著奔出屋外，驚愕恐懼多過於悲傷。那時，我還不懂得什麼是死亡、什麼是哀
慟，只是讓母親的模樣給嚇壞了。

鄰居們幫著一起把母親放下來。住在同村子的表伯公趕過來，把我帶回家。

幾天來，大家四處打聽，尋找父親，但都全無著落。

表伯公扛我在肩，朝往市集去。市集很熱鬧，我看見路邊有個小姊姊，脖上垂掛著一
張寫著字的紙板。我們經過她面前，表伯公不覺嘆著氣，自言自語：「可憐的孩子，
我若過著好日子，也不缺妳一口糧，現在只得先顧著妳娘入土為安。」

表伯公在市集與許多人交談，曾有人彎下身來仔細地端詳我。

這天，表伯公帶我回到我自己的家，有幾個人早已聚在那兒，他們讓我拿著香，教我
跪著向大木箱裡的母親磕頭。

表伯公也拿著香，對著棺木說：「保佑妳的娃兒去過好日子吧，她可是將她的未來，
換了妳一個安身之處啊。」

母親的棺木入了土坑，表伯公將我抱了起來，交給了一個曾在市集上見過的人。（寄
自紐約）



八塊榻榻米 (上)
by 鄭啟恭 世界新聞網 北美華文新聞11.18.09 - 12:00 am

「我不想再活了。」江伯母嘆了一口氣說：「該做的事都已經做完，感到沒甚麼意
思，很想要早點回去。」她說這話時，才剛過九十歲生日不久。

我見她認真的表情，趕緊胡謅一句：「別那麼急啊，上帝還沒點到您的名，暫且忍
耐忍耐吧！」江伯母對我抿出一絲苦笑，她早已習慣我的講笑。

她看著我由紮著兩條辮子的小丫頭，一晃眼長成為婦人，而她，卻在我漸漸曉事的
眼中逐年地老去。

第一次見到江伯母時，我只有十歲。在那貧民區裡，有幾排相連的小木屋，其中有
一間，是江伯母的住處，也就是我小學同窗米子的家。

米子是班上新來的轉學生，她的皮膚白皙，明眸皓齒，長得很討人喜歡。我們放學
時，常一起結伴走路回家。米子住得遠一些，總要先經過我家，起初我邀米子進屋
裡一起做功課，她總是拒絕。後來，她卻要求放學後我們加快腳步走，這樣，她就
能先到我家歇一會兒，吃些點心或什麼的，我這才知道米子有個極嚴厲的母親。
...

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八塊榻榻米 (下)
by 鄭啟恭 世界新聞網 北美華文新聞11.19.09 - 12:00 am

有一年暑假，我帶小孩返台省親，為探望米子一家，特地由紐約先飛到洛杉磯再轉
機回台。幾年不見，米子的兒女長高了不少。豪仁為我們接風，也見到豪仁的妹
妹、妹夫，他們都在豪仁的公司幫忙。豪仁的業務設在市區，因米子看中郊區這棟
兩層樓有大游泳池的豪宅，於是豪仁每天要花不少時間在公路上奔馳。

在洛杉磯那幾日，米子多數與豪仁去了公司，她認為家中有我這一個大人在就足夠
了。我想米子不當我外人，他們忙著生意，我幫忙照顧一下孩子也無妨。在這大宅
裡，四個孩子、兩隻狗都玩得很融洽。

到了周末，豪仁的妹妹、妹夫帶著兒子，一早開了部大車來，要載我們四處看看，
他們還準備了許多飲食，計畫到一個特別的園林去賞花並野餐。米子卻說花花草草
有什麼好看，紐約也有，何必浪費時間開到那麼遠去。後來米子還抱怨，她在陪我
們曬太陽。我很感激豪仁的妹妹、妹夫一片好意，卻很不明白米子怎會變得如此地

不近情理。
...

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Thanks for reading!
世界新聞網-北美華文新聞、華商資訊

TWArtists Members highlight: Lan-chiann Wu吳嵐倩: painter, member since Jan. 2012

Artist Statement

I paint with the conviction that there are universal humanistic values to life, principles that I grew up with and that are inherent to many societies, which are important to express in my work. Values such as achievement and benevolence, for example, play an important role in my art, because they are at the core of our existence.

Mankind’s universal struggle with life is also theme in my work. We all confront the questions: why are we here, and what is our purpose in life? The innate strength that we possess to overcome our difficulties is fascinating. Everyone struggles with profound moments of change, such as for example, the death of a loved one. This is not different for me; however, I
choose to express my struggles by creating images that are rich with meaning. This creates purposeful tension in my work.

My paintings are not mere images. They are layered with content, which can be both seen and felt. A curator at a
Los Angeles art institution once referred to my work as “hauntingly beautiful”, which touched the essence of my work.

My work is rooted in the ancient tradition of Chinese ink painting. My paintings are created with natural materials, ink on paper, using century-old techniques. I often make several sketches before I make a painting. It is a process that may take
up to several months to complete.

I prepare my materials by hand so that I have full control over my ink and colors, which is necessary for achieving intricate brushwork. I sometimes refer to my paintings as visual poems, because they contain similar intrinsic tension as poetry.
I aim to inspire the viewer of my paintings, not only to see the beauty of the image, but also experience its full meaning.

Bio: Lan-Chiann Wu received her BFA -with highest honors- from the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, Taiwan. She holds a MA from New York University’s
Fine Art Department and, resides in Granada Hills, CA where she has her studio. Lan-Chiann has exhibited and lectured on the subject of Chinese ink
Painting in the Los Angeles area, San Francisco, and well as in New York, Taiwan and Japan. She has received numerous prizes and awards, and her work has been exhibited and collected in Taiwan, the Netherlands, Japan and in the USA. Lan-Chiann has demonstrated the art of Chinese Ink Painting in Taiwan and New York, and appeared on an award-winning CD-ROM “The Paths Dreams Take”, Japanese art from the Collection of Mary Griggs Burke at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

http://www.thetranquilstudio.com
recent interview: http://www.meetmeinnewyork.com/en/meet-lan-chiann-wu

Lan-chiann at her moment of inspiration

TWArtists members highlight: Felicia Lin-- writer , member since Aug., 2010

Since 2004 I've been documenting the life of Su Beng- a Taiwanese nonagenarian Marxist revolutionary and lifelong Taiwan independence activist, who spent 7 years working undercover for the Chinese Communists, tried to assassinate Chiang Kai-Shek, and wrote "Taiwan's 400 Years of History." Follow along as I unravel and explain the elusive contradictions of this man's life story. It's my job as Su Beng's biographer to tell this story of one man's idealism, passion, heroism, and humanism. I believe it is a story that will inspire and inform. As a first time biographer, I'll also share some of my reflections on my role as Su Beng's biographer.

http://www.aboutsubeng.blogspot.com/

TWArtists members highlight: Tsai Wan Jin-- Painter , member since Oct., 2011

artist bio:  Wan-Jin was born and raised in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She earned a BFA degree from National Hsinchu Teacher’s College, Taiwan, in 1998 and received her MFA from Long Island University, NY in 2003.

Wan-Jin has attained various exhibitions since her arrival in NY in 2000. She has been shown in Taipei Gallery of Taipei Cultural Center NY, High Street Design gallery NJ, Brooklyn Brewery, The space Art show NY, Gallery 402 NYC, Stay Gold Gallery NY,Creative Clash Art NY, Hillwood Art Museum NY, Hunter College Art Gallery, Second Ave Firehouse Gallery NY, Student Art Gallery Long Island University C.W. Post NY.

Wan-Jin has been an assistant of visual arts department at the Taipei Cultural Center, NY, an installer at P.S.1, a freelance art-journalist, and an assistant at Gallery 402, NY. Wan-Jin now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Artist Statement:

My work explores human figures through three primary themes; the darkness in human beings, the breaking of conventional, simplistic views of nudity and sexuality, and the mutations of the human form. Specifically, I show a number of fantasia-type male and female bodies, with limbs and body parts irrationally conjoined, and rendered in watercolor pencil on cardboard to create mutant creatures. I also show semi-nude women, wooden forms depicting symbolic images, (bottles, weapons) merging with flat-pattern compositions charged with eroticism, depersonalization, and menace on canvas. Through figurative representation, I wish to evoke different dialogues from the mundane realities of this theme.


www.tsaiwanjin.com

TWArtists members highlight: Wen Wen Lin (林 文 文)-- conceptual & installation artist-- TWANY member since July 2010

Wen Wen Lin: painter, conceptual &  installation artist, film maker, art writer, poet, photographer; founder of TWArtists: A global Taiwanese Women Artists Association

Wen Wen Lin interacting with the viewer of her installation work: My Brave New World, June 2011

Bio and Artist Statement:
Apart from been trained as an abstract painter, under one of the legendary Abstract Expressionist Painters, Larry Poons, Wen Wen Lin is also an avid blogger, poet, film maker and photographer.  Due to her embrace in "a whole being"-- instead of an expert in one small area, one can see disciplinary boundary has blurred in  her work. They all come together as different ways of  "expression" in searching for the ultimate meaning in life.

My Brave New World exhibition, exhibition at Hell's kitchen art festival was assisted by 2 beautiful lady jokers, Giovanna & Wen -Chi.

http://art-in-action-artivists.blogspot.com/

Video Installation: Writing ON Light: Chance Operation, Part of Stealing From God series, Aug. 2010

                                            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8GotDT0jKU

Deeply believes in art as a mean of social interaction-- art action-- Wen Wen takes art to the level to inspire and ignite social change, in order to create a greater world for us to live in.  She ventures into the realm of artistic activism (artivism), making art that immerse the viewers into the art pc, the viewers become part of the installation and the active creator of the art work.  The artist, the facilitator/joker, remain neutral in the entire act, like the joker card in the deck of cards.  Her most recent work, and an on-going project that travels, is: My Brave New World, which has its premiere exhibition in Hell's kitchen art-fest on June 26, 2011.
Wen Wen Lin also write about those artists who act to be subversive to  totalitarian regime, and fight against social injustice and oppression.   Her most recent writing is about artist dissident: Ai Wei Wei: "The Dance of Sunflower Seeds", which could be viewed in her blog: Artivists: Art in Action.
blogspot for Artivists: art in action (since Jan. 2011)
http://art-in-action-artivists.blogspot.com/

In July 2010, Wen Wen founded TWArtists: A Global Taiwanese Women Artists Association, along with founding consultant Kun Shan Huang.  Thus embarking on a great journey, to nurture, and to promote Taiwanese Women Artists and show the uniqueness of  their art.
https://www.facebook.com/TwArtistsAGlobalTaiwaneseWomenArtistsAssociation

Impression of a Winter Sky: New York Landscape, March 2009

More of Wen Wen Lin's writing and blogs could be found below:
 
blogspot for film: The Other Side (since March 2011):
http://voicetheotherside.blogspot.com/
blogspot for literary writing: Wen Wen Lin (since March 2011)
http://wenwenlin.blogspot.com/
blogspot for photography: Wen Wen Lin Photography (since March 2011)
http://wenwenlinphotography.blogspot.com/

TWArtists members highlight:Jocelyn Yuchia Chang (張育嘉) -- Artistic Director, ESP-I Performing Art Group-- TWANY member since Aug 2010

Jocelyn Yuchia Chang: Artistic Director, ESP-I Performing Art Group: 找我劇場
blog: Beyond the Sky: http://changyuchia.com/

「愛情蠟像館」演出完畢，一切都很順利，謝謝大家支持。各方意見都會廣納聆聽，再次感恩。
找我劇場 http://espitheatre.wordpress.com/ 

 

 

press:  http://udn.com/NEWS/READING/REA8/6061049.shtml

http://udn.com/NEWS/READING/REA8/6061361.shtml

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/101227/78/2jpx6.html