DIANA DIANA SHUI-LU WONG
IN HER OWN WORDS... My interest in the Mysque of the Unknown – whether through life on Earth or exploring the Cosmos – serves as my inspiraon. By ob-serving the dynamic and self generang forces of Nature, we come to an understanding of who we are and where we came from. The feeling of the omnipresence of the universe—even for a split second—can be eternal. As the old saying goes, “as above, so- below.” If we explore the universal rhythm of Yin and Yang; Right and Wrong; Life and Death; we can see these paerns in our internal body system. With this awareness, all living beings can navigate their way out of chaos and uncer-tainty. Diana Shui-Iu Wong DIANA SHUI-IU WONG ARTIST
IN THE WORDS OF OTHERS… “Diana’s abstract painng is less abstract than most because behind the visual forms there exists Diana’s in-depth reading of life and universe.“ Raymond Choi, Art Collector/Curator - 2023 When rst I encountered a series of 1980s painngs by Diana Wong, I was entranced, le nearly breathless, by their powerful dynamism and the deep beauty of Wong's stunningly-bold bold use of color. Her vital and driving interests in I Ching and in contemporary aerospace-driven cosmology seat her work philosophically, and may explain the palpable charge felt in each of her important works. I am deeply pleased to own several of Wong's painngs, which enrich my life and fascinate visitors. Elizabeth DesMarais, Art Collector - 2023 “Diana Wong is an arst with tremendous creave power and exceedingly keen sensivity. Her arsc scope is also wide and far reaching. In recent years, she devotes much of her me to the study of Oriental philosophy and the theories of Yin and Yang. Her deep understanding of such disciplines and philosophies permeated her art, which reveals itself to the viewers in an easy, natural manner that is nevertheless majesc and profound.” Yim Chim-Lam - Curator/Director, Trigram Gallery, Hong Kong - 1997 “Wong’s painngs create space with color that generate both movement and light within her works. Bringing together Western contemporary poured, spilled and splashed painng with the more ancient Ch’an painng pracces that originated such techniques, she emphasizes the pro-cess of creaon, parcularly the elements of chance and spontaneity, to arrive at an intense and highly charged personal vision. Wong estab-lishes her own disncve visual voice.” Colee Chaopadhyay Art Cric - 1997 “Diana Wong, because of her heritage, as well as her physical and spiritual wandering, is at the leading edge of arsts who know this new world and lead us to understand it through their eyes.” Henry Hopkins, Director, UCLA/ Armand Hammer Museum of Art & Cultural Center - 1995 “Diana Wong believes herself as an Universal Arst who could bridge the gap between East and West, as well as between physical and Spiritu-al.” Peter Clothier Art Cric - 1988 “Diana Wong’s works contains an underpinning of melancholic warnings and a promise of survival. Its duality imparts a poec quality.” Dr. Ingrid AALL Professor Asian Art History - 1985
The Four Seasons Series 2000-2023 These four painngs are the direct inspiraons of nature. From California yellow mustard in spring to the high mountains in Canada in winter white. Summer is a nostalgic past. Autumn reects in every tree. The 4 seasons presents the phenomenon of “CHANGE” in the “UNCHANGEABLE" FOUR SEASONS SERIES - WINTER 10’ x 8’ - ENAMEL ON CANVAS 2023 FOUR SEASONS SERIES - AUTUM 10’ x 8’ - ENAMEL ON CANVAS 2023
FOUR SEASONS SERIES - SUMMER 10’ x 8’ - ENAMEL ON CANVAS 2023 FOUR SEASONS SERIES - SPRING 10’ x 8’ - ENAMEL ON CANVAS 2023
The Four Seasons Series 2000-2023 (CONTINUED) FOUR SEASONS SERIES - SUMMER POND 12’’ x 12’ - ENAMEL ON CANVAS 2004 Private Collection
Movie Placeholder - Transions of Seasons Video Transions of the seasons...
“ALL SEASONS BECOME ONE – GLOBAL BOILING” 10’ x 20’ - ENAMEL ON CANVAS 2014 All Seasons Become One - Global Boiling A Painting Inspiring a Film Synopsis An arst paints the four seasons as her alter ego travels thru a realm of inspiraon. Once the arst has realized the nal season, the alter ego arrives at the completed painng. What happens next is a reecon of humanity’s relaonship to nature and the never-ending power of creavity.
Movie Placeholder - All Seasons Become One The arst leads us on a journey of the four seasons in a primal approach to creaon. Her alter ego roams the dunes for inspiraon wrapped in an ethereal gauze-draped tunic as she transcends between two worlds. Movie Title: “All Seasons Become One”
Labyrinth One 1994 An Installaon and Performance at the Hammer Museum LABYRINTH This Labyrinth, originating from an ancient Chinese Design, is related to directions on earth and the nine House of Pa-qua (the eight elements of I-Ching,) It is here composed of seven hundred twenty-one squares of 5-inch tile paintings. From this seemingly simple yet very complicated design, I learned its hidden meaning from the oracles ofI-Ching. From the clash of the elements Water and Fire leading to the message of Ying and Yang, life itself follows an unchanging pattern—it blooms, bears fruit, and dies. All of us, at one time or another, are lost in the every-changing yet unpredictable life cycle, looking for a new passage, trying to do the impossible and avoid the unavoidable—to escape from this pre-destined cycle, of youth to old age, and old age to death… but always failing in the end. This painting begins at the position of “Water” (green) and ends at “Fire” (red). Water is the essence of life. Where there is no water, there is no life. And fire can destroy everything that lies in its path. Although life burns brightly like fire, in the end, only ashes remain and the soul re-baptized, can we then begin to find a new life. I do not intend to probe too deeply into the historical meaning of the design, nor do I expect everyone to agree with my interpretation. I only wish to re-create this ancient design in a new form and to let people discover their own feelings, thus giving the labyrinth its meaning in a new age. DIANA SHUI-LU WONG “The Labyrinth in Magnec Field”
Labyrinth Two LABRYINTH - 18’ X 18’
DIVINATION TABLE - 4’ TRIANGLE
Labyrinth Two 1994 DANCE PRESENTATION – PACIFIC ASIA MUSEUM – PASADENA, CA PERFORMANCE, MUSIC, DANCE COMMENTARY AND INSTALLATION AT THE HAMMER MUSEUM, LOS ANGELES, CA USA
Hammer Video
Labyrinth Three 2011 Glass and Steel Labyrinth of Nine Palaces, at Shan Yean Art Center, in Beijing, China
Labyrinth 2011 Glass and Steel Labyrinth of Nine Palaces, at Shan Yean Art Center, in Beijing, China
Labyrinth 2011 Glass and Steel Labyrinth of Nine Palaces, at Shan Yean Art Center, in Beijing, China
Simultaneous Horizon Series 2000
VIDEO Simultaneous Horizons
Simultaneous Horizon Series 2000 (CONTINUED) SIMULTANEOUS HORIZON SERIES ONE “SPACE BEYOND SPACE “ - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 10’ x 14’
SIMULTANEOUS HORIZON SERIES THREE “ON EARTH” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 10’ x 7’ SIMULTANEOUS HORIZON SERIES TWO “A DIMENSION UNDER WATER” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 10’ x 7’
Heaven’s Wonder 2005-2007 “FLUID LANDSCAPES IN COLOR AND LIGHT… “ HEAVENS WONDER “GALACTIC SEA” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 72” x 36” EACH
INNERFOLD II ACRYLIC / ENAMEL, ON CANVAS 48" x 48” INNERFOLD III ACRYLIC / ENAMEL, ON CANVAS 48" x 48”
Heaven’s Wonder 2005-2007 (CONTINUED) “THE COMING” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 4 x 4’
“QUANTUM BUBBLE” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 4 x 4’
Heaven’s Wonder 2005-2009 (CONTINUED) “MILKY WAY” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 6’ x 8’
“OUR GALAXY” - CHINESE INK ON PAPER, 2’ x 6’ “OUR GALAXY” - CHINESE INK ON PAPER, 3’ x 6’
Heaven’s Wonder - Moon Series 2005-2009 (CONTINUED) “MOON PHASE” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 5’ x 5’
“MOON IS NOT MOON” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 6’ x 8’
Heaven’s Wonder - Moon Series 2005-2009 (CONTINUED) “WOMAN IN THE MOON” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 6’ x 14’
“IN THE BEGINNING” - ENAMEL ON WOOD, ?’ x ?’
Heaven’s Wonder - Moon Series 2005-2009 (CONTINUED) “NIGHT OF MADNESS” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 12” x 12” “THE MIND AND THE PLANETS - ARE WE CONNECTED?” ACRYLIC AND ENAMEL ON CANVAS, 3’ x 6’
“THE CRUMBLE” - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 12” x 12”
The Peng Series 1983-2000 Peng is a legendary bird which appears many mes in classical Chinese literature that also has parallels in Western fables. It is the mythical quality of Peng that inspired me to paint this series of creaons. The series consists of eight topics: Bird of the South, Phoenix Descending, Flight To Eternity, Light of Heav-en, Darkness Approaching, Nocturne, Rain, Lightening. FLIGHT TO ETERNITY - PENG SERIES ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 40” x 120”
BIRD OF THE SOUTH - PENG SERIES ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 40” x 120” Chuang Chou the famous Chinese philosopher wrote a fable about “Peng” a great sh who became a bird of tremendous size. Peng then arose from out of the Northern Sea, creang an immense wave, and ew away to the tops of the clouds, whereupon he became one with the universe, thereby becoming independent of the material world.
The Peng Series 1983-2000 (CONTINUED) SKY’S THE LIMIT - PENG SERIES ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 40” x 120”
THE FLIGHT - PENG SERIES ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 40” x 80”
La Pacifica Series 1978-1983 Nothing is more glorious than the sunrise and sunset at the rim of the Pacific Ocean where I go to walk and watch and con-template. My thoughts and feelings about my paintings in this service viewed in a cosmological sense are best expressed by thoughts from the “I Ching”, the Chinese book of changes. In Painting, as well as in life, we all try to cope with chance and change in order to maintain balance. This is achieved by our love of others and of the universe, and by the acceptance of our place in that universe.
“TAI-CHI, THE PRIMAL FORM” PACIFICA 24, 1983 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 36" x 36”
La Pacifica Series 1978-1983 (CONTINUED) PACIFICA 18, 1983 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS , 36" x 36” PACIFICA 3, 1983 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 47" x 40” PACIFICA 22, 1983 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 36" x 36”
PACIFICA 5, 1983 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 40" x 47” PACIFICA 4, 1983 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 40" x 47” PACIFICA 9, 1983 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 40" x 47” “THE HARMONIZING OF THE TWO OPPOSITE UNIVERSAL FORCES”
La Pacifica Series 1978-1983 (CONTINUED) PACIFICA 14, 7, 13, & 17, 1983 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, EACH @ 36" x 36”
PACIFICA 16, 11, 15, 23, 8, 10, 12, & 6, 1983 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, EACH @ 36" x 36”
Table of Bottomless Bliss - Installation
The inspiration for these dishes came from the materials that were left behind from my painting sessions, such as dried-out paints, brushes, rags, cups, chopsticks, etc. I named the dishes based on the negative emotions we learn through life. Today people put so much emphasis on food. I find it interesting to compare how, and what, foods are linked to our physical and men-tal health. After all, we are what we eat. Diana Shui-Iu Wong Table of Bottomless Bliss - Preparation
LUSTY LASAGNE “The secret is in the sass…” ATTACHMENT PUDDING “It’s sticky…” Table of Bottomless Bliss (CONTINUED)
EGO SALAD “All about me…” DEEP FRIED DESIRE DUMPLING “It’s a bottomless pit…”
JEALOUSY JELLO “Deamon of the mind…” ELIXER “Morphic resonance…” Table of Bottomless Bliss (CONTINUED)
ENLIGHTENMENT TEA “Filled with nothing…”
Innite Labyrinth
DIANA SHUI-LU WONG Biography of the artist… Los Angeles-based artist Diana Shui-Iu Wong was born and raised in 1940s Hong Kong. Wong’s interest in art and talent for drawing was apparent at the age of five. Throughout her childhood, she studied calligraphy, enriching her passion for art. Wong studied fine art close to home until her deepening interest in modern Western art, especially impressionism, led her to the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy, in 1957, and later the Royal School of Art in London. Wong returned to Hong Kong and traveled to New York and Los Angeles, where she set up permanent residence in 1970. Later in 1985, Wong opened a gallery of her own in Santa Monica. Since settling in Los Angeles, Wong has established herself as an in-ternational local artist who balances traditional Chinese and contemporary Western aesthetics. While Wong’s classical training in both Chinese and Western painting formed the basis for her techniques, her study of the I-Ching offered her a decisive break from traditional modes as well as new creative directions. In 1962, Wong began to ex-periment beyond the conventions of her formal art training to explore the liberating complexity of abstraction. Discovering that she could express pride for her heritage and culture through her work, Wong has also found self-empowerment through her art making. Wong’s most recent work ventures boldly into abstraction while grounded in nature and the ele-ments. Her striking images, like color-flooded snapshots of the cosmos, explore universal questions about being and bal-ance.
More about the Artist… • Selected Solo Exhibits • JUN 2020 Kylin Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA, USA • OCT 2019 Helms Design Center, Los Angeles, CA ,USA • MAR 2015 LA ArtCore Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA • MAY 2012 LA ArtCore Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA • APR 2012 “Glass Labyrinth”, the Shang Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, China • MAY 2010 ADC Building Bridges Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA • AUG 2008 Gallery Ora-Ora, Beijing, China • MAY 2008 Total Art gallery, Shenzhen, China • MAR 2006 Chinese American Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA • APR 2005 “Retrospective” Museum of Art, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China • MAY 2000 “Entrance/Emergence” 456 Gallery, New York, USA • APR 1999 “Paper Works” L A ArtCore Brewery, Los Angeles, USA • APR 1998 “The Journey Within” Galleria Mazzocchi, Parma, Italy • OCT 1997 “Labyrinth of Migration” Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum, Fullerton, CA, USA • MAY 1997 “Blue and Gold: A Tribute to Hong Kong” Trigram Gallery, Hong Kong, China • APR 1995 “Wonders of Heaven” Galleria Prospectiva, Milan, Italy • JUL 1994 “Wonders of Heaven” National Gallery, Beijing, China • JUN 1992 “Cosmos” Seibu Art Gallery, Hong Kong, China • JUN 1992 “Cosmos” Filipin Gallery, Milan, Italy • APR 1989 “New Works: The Pacic Rim Exhibit” Gallery Q + 1, Tokyo, Japan • APR 1988 “Ten Years Work in Retrospective” Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan • SEP 1988 “Ten Years Work in Retrospective” Alisan Fine Arts Gallery, Hong Kong, China • MAR 1987 “The Peng Series” Midge Carr Art Center Gallery, New York Institute of Technology, New York , USA • MAR 1983 “California Trails” Pacic Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA, USA • NOV 1969 “Paintings by Diana Wont” National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan Public Art Projects • NOV 2014 “Metro Archway, Silver Line—Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles, CA, USA • JUL 2011 “Glass Labyrinth” - A Permanent Installation of Steel and Glass; Shan Yuen Art Center & Museum; Beijing, China
Installations and Films • JUN 2015 “All Seasons Become One” AWARDS: 2015: Best Short Film, Albuquerque Music and Film Festival, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 2016: Best Narrative Short Film, Fine Art Film Festival, Venice, CA, USA ` 2016: Best Fine Art Film/Open Art, Short Film Festival, Dusseldorf, Germany • MAY 2007 “The Bliss Table”, Asto Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA • APR 1999 “Creation and Dissolution” Art Performance, LA ArtCore Brewery, Los Angeles, CA, USA • NOV 1996 “Process and Ritual” Video Installation, Downey Museum, Downer, CA, USA • OCT 1995 “The Labyrinth” LA ArtCore, Art Bank, National State County Partnership Grant, Los Angeles, CA USA • MAR 1994 “ The Labyrinth” Dance/Poetry/Music, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA Selected Group Exhibits • OCT 2016 “Art Expo”, Chung San, China • JUN 2016 “Banana Jam Group Invitational”, Jing de Zhen, China • FEB 2012 “From a Whisper to a Roar”, National WCA Exhibit, Ave 50 Studio, Highland Park, CA, USA • OCT 2008 “Building Bridges” CEARTE Cultural Art Center, Ensenada, Mexico • AUG 2008 “Emphasis Santa Monica, Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA • NOV 2007 Sung Zhuang Festival of Art, Beijing, China • SEP 2007 Five Continent Artist’s Conferences and Art Exhibit, Paris, France • AUG 2004 “Art and Democracy III”, Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA, USA • JAN 2004 “Bridging Time and Space - California Layerists Create”, SomArts Bay Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA • APR 2003 “Abstract Elegant I” Don O’Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA • JUL 2000 “The Immigrants’ Eye”, Angels’ Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA USA • JUN 2000 “On and O Paper” Angels’ Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA, USA • MAY 2000 “Shifting Perceptions/Contemporary LA Visions”, Pacic Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA, USA Curatorial Experience • 2014 “Art and Democracy V”, Building Bridge’s Foundation, Santa Monica, CA, USA • 2014 “Art and Democracy IV“ Building Bridges, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA, USA • 2004 “Art and Democracy III” Angeles Gate Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA • 1999 “Art and Democracy II” El Pueblo Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA • 1992 “Out of Hong Kong”, Merging One Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA • 1992 “Passage-A Public Art Proposal for Chinatown”, Merging One Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA • 1989 “Art and Democracy I” Merging One Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA 1997 “Four Abstract Artists” Gallery of the Rim, San Francisco, CA • 1997 “Beyond Abstraction” Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong • 1997 “Beyond Abstraction” Shanghai Museum of Fine Art, Shanghai, China
More about the artist… (CONTINUED) Selected Review and Bibliographies • 2005 “Role Model” Channel 18 KSCI, Los Angeles, CA, USA • 1997 “Chinese Abstract Art and Beyond at the Hong Kong Arts Center,” Asian Art News, May/June 1997, p. 84, John Millichap • 1997 “Art Talk” CNBC News, Hong Kong, China • 1996 “Dancing With the Tao” Asian Art News, Vol. 6, No. 4, July/August 1996, pp. 66-67, Collette Chattopadhyay • 1995 “Introduction, The Wonders of Heaven”, Henry Hopkins, Beijing, China • 1995 “Lao Tzu, Dante, Jung & I Ching” Archivio, Milan, Italy • 1994 “Artist Finds Expression in Colours” China Daily, August 3, 1994, Yi Shu, Beijing, China • 1992 “Diana Wong in Milan” Giornale di Sicilia, Feb. 1992, Picciche, Italy • 1991 Visions Magazine, Mary Carrol Nelson • 1989 Los Angeles Times, Susan Geer Awards • 2016 Best Narrative Short Film, Fine Art Film Festival, Venice, CA, USA • 2016 Best Fine Art Film/ Open Art, Short Film Festival, Düsseldorf, Germany • 2015 Best short lm award: "All Seasons Become One" - Albuquerque music and lms festival, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA • 1983 Jury Award, La Mirada Art Festival, La Mirada, CA, USA • 1981 66th National Orange Festival, 2nd Place Aware, San Bernardino, CA, USA • 1960 Black and White Composition, 1st Place Award, International Young Artists Competition, Gubbio, Italy Education • I-Ching Studies, with Professor C.G. Wang • B.A. degree: Oil and Décorative Arts; Academy of Fine Arts, Rome Italy • Graduate Studies: Academy School of London
The “Merging One Art Gallery and Studio”, built and operated by Dana Wong, 1986 –1994
© Copyright by Diana Shui-lu Wong, All Rights Reserved Catalog design, content, layout and narraon by Craig Cooley A passion for art and the power of arsc expression, Diana at work.