Chu-Ying LAI

Lai Chu-Ying: Exploring the Essence of Self through Art

Over the past three years, Lai Chu-Ying has won the First Prize in the National Art Exhibition (Gouache Category) three consecutive times, solidifying her status as a leading artist in contemporary gouache painting.

Through layered imagery, her works place young women in interwoven spaces—the city (the world), balloons (dreams), and plants—conveying the struggles and journey of individuals in search of their true essence. To the artist, the figures in her paintings represent external appearances, while the concept of self remains an abstract idea. Most of her compositions feature a solitary figure set within a reconstructed space, transforming real environments into imaginative realms reflective of her inner world.

Lai Chu-Ying seeks to uncover hidden messages within daily life, translating subconscious impressions and personal experiences into her artistic expressions. A simple forest scene can move her, while the resilience of various plants fills her with admiration. She contemplates whether people, objects, and nature—if freed from mutual dependence—could discover a place where they can exist independently and unfettered. This line of thought led her to explore her visions of the cosmos, imagining a world beyond reach and delving into her aspirations for the unknown.

Initially, she pursued symbolic elements with representational meaning, but gradually, her focus shifted toward the details of everyday life, realizing that the universe manifests itself through the mundane. In her research, she explores the concept of “light”, approaching it from both a scientific perspective and through the study of masterpieces that showcase its visual impact. Light enables us to perceive the world, and this idea led her to shift her artistic focus toward the brilliance behind physical matter, moving beyond the mere depiction of surface light and shadow variations.

This exploration became the inspiration behind the term “潜光” (Hidden Light)—a concept that transcends the visible and unveils the deeper luminosity embedded within existence.