Oil Painting

1998

Length:130 x Width:130 (cm)

Lee Tsu-Hsin (1966-2019, Tucheng, New Taipei City) graduated from the Fine Arts Department of National Taiwan Academy of Arts (now National Taiwan University of Arts) and earned an MFA from Fontbonne University in Missouri, USA. He received the Chimei Arts Talent Fellowship and First Prize in Oil Painting at the Nanying Fine Arts Exhibition. Lee served as a professor in the Department of Arts and Design at National Hsinchu University of Education (now part of National Tsing Hua University) and was Director of the Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art. He also served on juries for the Chimei Talent Program, the National Student Art Competition, the Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition, and the National Art Exhibition, making significant contributions to art education and cultural promotion in Taiwan.
Lee was a leading figure in Taiwan’s contemporary realist movement. While grounded in naturalistic representation, his works often reflect deeply personal contemplations of people and events. Journey of Dreams and Other Matters is an early landmark work from his Suitcase Series, created during a time of creative uncertainty following his return to Taiwan from the United States in 1994. At the center of the canvas is an armchair, draped with artistic tools—palette, brushes, palette knives, and paints. A pair of worn leather shoes rests at the base, while a suitcase stands just behind the chair. The figure is notably absent, save for the shadow of a head and a pair of weathered hands gripping the armrests. These elements allude to the artist himself: a man shaped by decades of struggle, yet still yearning for transformation. Quietly symbolic, the composition offers a poignant meditation on identity, artistic perseverance, and the search for self.

Accession number:20210100085