Tong Yangtze 董阳孜 (b. 1942)

Tong Yangtze learned calligraphy from her father when she was a child of eight practising the styles of Wei and Tang Dynasties. She has a BFA from the National Taiwan Normal University and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts where she studied oil painting and ceramics. She currently lives and works in Taiwan.

Her work is inspired by the Tao Te Ching and the writings of Confucius and Mencius. Tong is known for her powerful calligraphy using cursive (caoshu) where the viewer can still recognise some words but borders on abstraction. This allows a dialogue between content and style which is her trademark visual language.

Variations in the width and character of the strokes create the effect of movement which contribute to the overall experience of meaning and visual effect. The titles, when written in calligraphy are both visually beautiful and profound in content.

Tong’s latest high profile work can be seen gracing the pillars of the reception hall of Hongkong’s M+ Museum.