Eastern Gouache

1996

Length:145 x Width:112 x Height:2.5 (cm)

Cheng Ying-Lin (b. 1963, Qingshui, Taichung) holds a graduate degree in Fine Arts from Soochow University. A student of gouache painter Hsieh Feng-Sheng (1938-2008), Cheng served as an elementary school teacher and principal. His works have been awarded at the Taiyang Fine Arts Exhibition, the Central Taiwan Art Exhibition, the Provincial Exhibition, and the Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition. In 1996, he was granted permanent exemption from jury review by the Provincial Exhibition and is a member of the Taiyang Fine Arts Association.
This work takes inspiration from the Burning of the King Boat, a religious ritual along Taiwan’s southwest coast. Cheng captures the festival’s dramatic climax: the “Sending Off of the Plague King,” where a wooden boat is burned as a spiritual cleansing rite. In the foreground, worshippers gather tightly, their gazes fixed on the growing flames engulfing the vessel. As the smoke and fire rise, ghostly figures of ancient civil and military deities appear in the crimson sky, evoking the moment the Plague King is summoned and sent away. More than a documentary scene, the work conveys a theatrical and mystical intensity. Cheng is known for his vivid depictions of Taiwanese folk religion, using ritual themes as a lens for personal narrative. This painting was awarded the Government Prize in the gouache category at the 50th Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition.

Accession number:20170300261