Across the Divide: Just in Time
Celebrating 20 years of Artistic Dialogue
Featuring the Association of Chinese Artists in American Academia
Exhibition open: November 30 – December 16, 2023
Opening Reception: November 30 from 5pm – 7pm
This exhibition will celebrate creative works in non-traditional media by artists of Chinese descent that speak to the continuous exchange between East and West. We seek to generate cross-cultural comparative insights for a new understanding of Chinese art as an international force taking many forms. This exhibition expands beyond national boundaries to consider how works of art and artists have interacted across their experiences in China and the United States.
As a non-profit organization, the Association of Chinese Artists in American Academia (ACAAC) was founded in 2003 by a group of Chinese artists who teach and research in American universities. Attending the first national exhibition and symposium held at California State University, Long Beach, this group of artists came into consensus in creating a platform for sharing their artistic experiences and educational endeavors. Having been a continuation of the Association’s scholarly endeavor of the past two decades, this 2022 Forum Across the Divide is pleased to invite all ACAAC members to participate in this exhibition.
China & US Post Covid era
Tumult III
Tumult II
I’m a paper-cutting artist specializing in large-scale artworks inspired by the ancient Chinese art form. I started practicing paper-cutting as a child and later mastered the craft. My diverse cultural background and training in various art disciplines like drawing, painting, and graphic design during the early 1990s have shaped my artistic approach.
In 1999, I began blending digital graphics with paper-cutting at Southern Illinois University. Since 2002, I’ve been teaching 2D digital art, 3D modeling, and animation at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, where interactions with students have enriched my creative process.
My work includes multi-dimensional installations, such as “Spring Water,” which combines video, sound, motion, paper-cutting, drawing, and watercolor. I’ve also used 2D software to create politically themed pieces like “China VS U.S.” and “Tumults.”
While my early work focused on personal narratives, I’ve expanded my themes to explore conflict and the cultural dynamics between China and the US. My current goal is to foster critical engagement from a balanced East-meets-West perspective.
Breaths (Breath-Escape, Breath-UnSong, Breath-Wither)
Random #102
Random #104
Random #129
Rebecca Ruige Xu & Sean Hongsheng Zhai
When Leaving Becomes Arriving
Dépaysement (series)
Statement
Dépaysement means a change of scenery, a unique word in French that captures emotions shared by travelers. The pandemic has changed the entire globe and caused such feelings in many of us. With this project, we created a series of monotypes based on the visual music When Leaving Becomes Arriving we produced before. The process includes 1) toner transfer of digital images, 2) additive or subtractive inking with found objects, and 3) layering and iterations. This workflow supports spontaneous creative impulse and inspires experimentation of ideas and compositions. Transforming screen-based work into tangible media is a refreshing experience. The mixing of ink, the marks from rollers or brayers, the placement of the found objects, and the arrangement of stencils, all contribute to the final output. We hope this project will encourage other computer graphics artists to explore fine art printmaking as an alternative to digital printing.
Biography
Rebecca Ruige Xu’s artwork and research interests include experimental animation, visual music, artistic data visualization, interactive installations, digital performance, and virtual reality. Her recent work has been appeared at: ISEA; Ars Electronica; IEEE VIS Arts Program; SIGGRAPH & SIGGRAPH Asia Art Gallery; Museum of Contemporary Art, Italy; Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, USA; Colloquium culture and digitization, Switzerland; CYNETart, Germany; International Digital Art Exhibition, China; Boston Cyberarts Festival, USA. Xu currently teaches computer art and animation as a Professor in College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University.
Sean Zhai is a designer and researcher at Syracuse University with a prolonged interest in computer graphics and generative art. His work has been exhibited in Ars Electronica, ISEA, SIGGRAPH Art Gallery, SIGCHI, Boston Cyberarts Festival and many other venues. His latest research focuses on self-expression in the extended reality.
Cangjie’s poetry
Days in Mountain.
Travel sketch
Peach Blossom Spring
Subway
Neuron and Universe (series)
Inspired by the 1919 total solar eclipse, which validated Einstein’s “bending of starlight” concept in his General Theory of Relativity, this photo series highlights striking parallels in arrangement and quantity between the neurons in the human brain and the Milky Way galaxy. It reveals the profound connections between the microscopic and the cosmic, unveiling the intricate dance of life’s energy as it converges and disperses in the universe.
Xun Chi (Michael) is a Professor of Visual Communication at Laguna College of Art + Design, an international Curator, and the Rotating Chairman of the Association of Chinese Artists in American Academia. He holds an M.F.A. degree from Purdue University, where his design work achieved national recognition. Xun completed a medical degree from Tianjin Medical University. His teaching and research interests are in visual storytelling, visual rhetoric, color theory, etc. Besides teaching, Xun’s passion is photography. His photographic work has been published and exhibited worldwide.
Negative Eclipse I
Negative Eclipse II
Dr. Aihua is an accomplished classical figure painter and a scholar of Western and Chinese art history. Her artistic journey began with a rigorous education at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Subsequently, she relocated to California and pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at California Lutheran University. Following this, she achieved an MFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, specializing in classical figurative sculpture. Her academic pursuits then led her to the University of Exeter in England, where she achieved an MPhil and a Ph.D. in Art History and Visual Culture. Throughout her career, in addition to her role as a professor at California Lutheran University, she has accumulated extensive experience as a curator, art writer and active art practitioner.
Her paintings, “Negative Eclipse I” and “Negative Eclipse II,” are part of the Pareidolia series she is currently working on, exploring innovative methods to create imaginative paintings. This work represents a unique fusion of Chinese classical elements and Western visionary imagination, offering a distinctive artistic expression. Her aim is for the whimsical ink landscapes to share the soft depth of tradition with the modern, surreal eye and mind.