Eastern Gouache

2008

Length:89.9 x Width:146.2 (cm)

Chang Hsiu-Yen (b. 1953, Ershui, Changhua) earned her BFA in traditional Chinese painting from the Chinese Culture University, and later completed a master’s program in Nihonga painting at Tunghai University. After retiring from a long career as a junior high school art teacher, she has focused full-time on her creative practice. Chang’s early work centered on ink and color-ink painting; in recent years, she has shifted to nihonga (traditional pigment painting), earning numerous awards from the Provincial Art Exhibition, Taiwan Provincial Public Service Art Exhibition, Taiyang Art Exhibition, Tainan Art Biennial, and Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition. She has also served as a juror for the Central Taiwan Art Exhibition and international art shows, and has held many solo and group exhibitions both in Taiwan and abroad.
Love’s Threads - Loss (I) is part of Chang’s Love’s Threads series. Set in an ethereal space, the painting captures a young woman’s romantic longing and emotional confusion, rendered in a poetic and dreamlike style. Suspended above a pond, the figure’s pale face and dazed expression evoke a sense of drifting. Her lowered arm and flowing hair align visually with the lotus stems and buds rising from the water below, reinforcing a delicate symmetry between surrender and yearning.
Chang uses elements such as water, fallen petals, withered lotus pods, and fading leaves to symbolize life’s elusive nature. These motifs mirror the woman’s limp arm and vacant gaze—together forming a haunting meditation on love, loss, and emotional vulnerability. The painting is both romantic and heartrending, and was awarded First Prize in Nihonga at the 16th Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition.

Accession number:20200100073