The name of the exhibition Foreshadowing comes from the Japanese kanji 伏線 (fukusen), which shares a connection with the Chinese characters for foreshadowing (伏筆 fubi). Curator YEH noted that the seven participating artists are between 35 and 45 of age and all of them have been working and innovating with oriental media. Some have tapped into three-dimensional composition, some have bestowed more symbolic expressions to contemporary design, while some have developed innovative ways of using metal foils (gold, silver, etc.) different from the conventional application. Their diverse range of works should unveil new possibilities for the future of oriental media.

CHANG Ching-Wen (b. 1979) is now based in Tokyo, pursuing his doctoral degree in Japanese painting research at Tama Art University. Her works in this exhibition transmute the interior and exterior scenes of Tokyo buildings into a structural visual language. Doing away with the detailed illustrations of the buildings, only the straight lines of the structure are accentuated. The succinct and serene scenes are eerily reminiscent of the desolation of shutdowns due to the pandemic. CHEN Yi Chia (b. 1980) has a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Tsukuba in Japan. She mainly paints objects from her upbringing and surroundings as a way to connect with her emotions. The iron objects she depicts come from growing up in her father’s factory. The extensive use of metal foil is more than substitution for the metal components she is so familiar with, but also reveals temporality in the repeated stacking and scrubbing process.

HSU Fan-Hsuan (b. 1981) is based in Nagoya and has a doctoral degree in Fine Arts from the Aichi Prefectural University of the Arts. In this exhibition, his Something else and veins series are featured. The former primarily uses white paint that is not easy to maneuver, and many narrative elements have been omitted in an attempt to achieve a visually “purified” effect. YEH Jen-Kun (b. 1984) holds an MFA from the Taipei National University of the Arts. He has used ink wash and Nihonga to depict urban landscapes that break away from the traditional flat surface perspective, with concrete buildings exuding coldness and loneliness. His works on display at this exhibition are a continuation of the Star, Fireworks and Ideal Life (2020) series, as they capture the beautiful yet fleeting moments of time through the light of fireflies, fireworks of midsummer and the shooting-star-like rain.

Hiroyuki MORI (b. 1982) was born in Fukuoka and received his MFA from the Hiroshima City University. His wrestling-themed paintings on display in this exhibition combine the “golden clouds” elements of traditional Japanese paintings as if they were cutscene animations. Just as Ukiyo-e portrays the scenery of common people’s lives, the artist brings his passion for wrestling into his creation, which can be regarded as an extension of the Japanese painting tradition.

Ryo SHINAGAWA (b. 1987), born in Osaka, is an emerging artist whose work has grown in reputation. His creation attempts to find a way to connect traditional oriental media with the contemporary. He uses “flowers”, a traditional painting motif, as one of his objects of experimentation with brushwork and reflection. His mixed use of acrylic paints and traditional medium proves to be an innovation of the classical. A fellow alumnus of Ryo SHINAGAWA from the Kyoto University of the Arts, Masayoshi NOJO (b. 1989) was born in Kanagawa Prefecture. His works link contemporary visual language with the theme of “passage of time” in Japanese painting to express his personal vision of memory. Inspired by the 17th century painter Ogata Kōrin’s use of silver foil to express the passage of time, he creates mirage-like distant memories in his paintings.

These seven artists, each honed in their respective traditional techniques of ink wash and Nihonga, bring forth their own contemporary oriental artistic vocabulary and infuse new life into time-honored traditional media.