Bethany's Artist's Statement

Between Visible and Invisible

I insist on painting

Abstraction connects the visible and the invisible. The aim of my work is to paint the inner reality, which forms the mystery of human existence. My figures come and go, suggested by the subjectivity and serenity of time and space.

The brilliant color combined with crude texture builds the abstract surface. I build surface texture through the painting process. The rough texture is the helpful element for my ideal of abstraction. I stylize objects and figures with various colors of lines and brushstrokes. The structure of my compositions creates a dynamic visual power and to lead the viewer’s eyes moving around, but ultimately, the visual balance on my painting surface.

I am now painting a new serial of figures paintings. Some are in interior spaces and others are depicted in exterior spaces. Individual elements such as dogs, birds and fish have taken on additional layers of meaning and reference. The birds and fish are symbols of my faith, as well as visual movement elements in my work. The dogs reflect human characteristics and evoke certain emotion. The figures are based on my family members who are in Taiwan, as well as my husband and myself. The children are my nieces and nephews and they are like the morning dew in my mind. My painting is the bridge, through which I can go to them in a different time and space. I have been inspired through studying Georges Rouault, Amedeo Modigliani, Max Beckmann, Alberto Giacometti, Balthus, Emil Nolde , Richard Diebenkorn and Alex Katz. Their work has promoted my own way to paint figures. The Chinese Calligraphy also informs my abstraction.

In this world, the invisible exits in the visible. "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV)