Tseng Chien-Ying 曾建穎 (b. 1987)

Tseng Chien-Ying received his Master of Fine Arts from the Taipei National University of the Arts in 2013. Two years later, he was one of eight young artists selected by the Ministry of Culture to show at Art Taipei’s MIT section. In 2017, he received a grant from the Asian Cultural Council.  

Tseng’s artistic practice is founded on traditional North Asian techniques, particularly ink painting, but is not limited to traditional Chinese ink. In exploring the use of traditional materials like pigment on xuan or rice paper, he integrates influences from other cultures, such as Japanese-inspired historical figurative art, but interpreted in his own contemporary style.

Social themes abound in Tseng’s work. Often, he combines the seemingly delicate scenes in his paintings with elements of cruelty, absurdity and void to highlight the hidden violence suffered by individuals in society. The absurdity in the imagery of Tseng’s works opens a debate on the significance of human existence at a time of sexism, racism and violence.

Tseng has had solo exhibitions in key cities all over Taiwan, and has joined group exhibitions in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. His works are part of the collections of the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung and the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei.