While many contemporary Chinese artists have sought to meld Eastern cultural tradition with modern Western aesthetic influences, none have achieved the level of harmony found in Chu Teh-chun’s elegant abstractions. Taking direct inspiration from the interplay of light seen in works by Western artists such as Rembrandt and Goya, Chu Teh-chun’s works from the 1970’s explore the balance of illumination across vast expanses of darkened canvas. In paintings from this period, Chu juxtaposes his Western interpretation of light and form with the structure, depth, and spirituality of traditional Chinese painting. Drawing direct inspiration from the two basic elements in I Ching iconography, Chu describes the coherence of yin and yang within his own work as “complementary opposites that interact within a greater whole and constantly evolve.” Approaching the diametrically contradicting aesthetics of his artistic influences in the same manner, Chu explains, “I want to fuse the traditional colors and freely formed abstract works in Western paintings to express the cosmic phenomenon that is constituted by the two elements.” Chu Teh-chun’s paintings from this period of artistic exploration rely heavily on subtle harmonies found in the collocation of illumination and darkness, buoyancy and weight, vibrancy and obscurity in an effort to depict a sense of the universal which extends beyond the confines of the canvas.

Composition No. 503 supplies an elegant example of such equilibrium and synchronization of opposing yet congruous forces. While shadowed spires and forms remain shrouded in subtle variations of black and gray along the greater breadth of the composition, a vibrant splash of color bursts forth across the foreground in a luminescent celebration of light and refraction. The soft yellows and elegant pinks radiate from the surrounding darkness, resplendent in their expression of light and form. “The lines and colors in my work,” Chu states, “are all carefully planned and are to achieve one goal in harmony: to create the ray of light and bring out the image and the rhythm.” Composition No. 503 clearly demonstrates this intention of the artist, with a graceful balance of color, light, and form.