Richard Tiejun Chao, Australia
Biography
Highly appreciated watercolor artist with solo and group exhibitions in Europe, USA, Asia, and Australia. An invited artist to watercolor demonstrations, workshops and lectures around the world. A judge to international art exhibitions.
A featured artist by the French leading international professional journal The Art of Watercolor, Winner of over 60 major watercolor prizes for the last 5 years, among which First Prize in IWM - UK, A. J. Casson Award (First Place) in WSPWC 96th Exhibition - Canada, Mary Lind Award (Top Three) in NWS Member Exhibition - USA, and many others.
To compare with the enormous globe we inhabit, every single person is tiny, regardless how much he possesses; to compare with the vastness of the universe, our thought and knowledge are limited, although we are trying to be completely open-minded... When I was a child, I liked watching the night sky The starry sky made me feel lonely for the first time, although my beloved parents were just inside the door a few steps away... As I held the cold hands of my grandpa who had just passed away, I suddenly realised that everybody would die one day. To compare with fun and happiness as I was used to think, there are much more stress, dreadfulness and desperation.
Since I lived in multi-cultural Australia, I’ve had the chance to make friends with people from a variety of ethnic groups, races, cultural and socio-eco backgrounds, and such with different beliefs. Furthermore, on my exhibition trips, I’ve seen people from different walks of life in different corners of the globe. I was amazed by the diversity of life, as well as the shared features among people. Namely nobody can avoid birth, ageing, illness and death, and everybody experiences happiness and sufferings. So, I have been undertaking a long term project entitled "We Are the World”, which interprets in my perspective that the world is constituted by every individual life in it. I try to discuss the recognition of personal identity with the different portraits I paint... My portraiture artworks echo how my thought has changed since I moved to Australia. Living in Australia gives me the chance to communicate in a cross-cultural setting, and to be able to observe, experience and understand differences and tolerance, and encourages me to accept life as it is. This is an imperfect, human-dominated world, spotted with such gloom as pressure, poverty misunderstandings, hostility and even slaughter.
Our cognitive competence defines the boundary of the world; and the limit of our mind and thought confines our understanding of the universe... I hope I can interpret my comprehension of the self the world and the universe into my paintings.
Works
The Peaks Above The City
Watercolor on paper
75 cm x 55 cm
Arcadian Life
Watercolor on paper
75 cm x 55 cm
Edinburgh Sunset
Watercolor on paper
75 cm x 55 cm
