A digital archive of Asian/Asian American contemporary art history

Ting, Walasse

Other Names: 丁雄泉; Xiongquan Ding

Artist Website

"Walasse Ting also focuses on traditional subjects, but unlike Wasselmann, he has been unwilling to give up the sensuousness of the painted surface. Born in Shanghai in 1929, Ting made his way to Paris in 1953 and it is clear that the vibrant, glowing world of Henri Matisse has never been far from his consciousness. His paintings, quickly executed on rice paper, evoke a glorious sun-drenched world of hothouse flowers and beautiful women. Like Matisse, he finds in art a refuge from the dissonance and difficulties of daily life. Instead, his paintings offer a weary viewer an oasis of harmony and beauty."

"It is possible to see in Ting's work a blending of East and West. His spare evocative lines recall the deftly rendered figures and landscapes of Chinese ink painting, while the saturated colors are clearly Western, with a strong Fauve accent. A poet as well as an artist, Ting writes lyrical odes which draw on images from nature to express the changing moods of the soul. He emphasizes the artlessness of his work with words and paint, noting, "I didn't do it, it just happened by itself like nature. I just picked it up like walking in the forest."

-Heartney, Eleanor. "Contradiction and Complexity." Neither East Nor West: Seven Contemporary New York Artists." New York: Taipei Gallery, Chinese Information and Culture Center, 1993: 14. Print.

Gallery of Selected Works