Crimson Spirit of the Deep

Luo-Han Chen

An afterimage comes to mind when viewing Luo-Han Chen’s paintings, almost as if one has glanced at the sun for a moment too long before looking at something else. The outline of a shell for instance, or maybe a tree, asserts itself against a dark, slightly blotchy background.  

An afterimage holds the viewer even after they have stopped looking at the image. In many ways, Chen’s paintings do something similar, keeping us thinking even after we’ve stopped looking. We are left thinking about the natural world that forms the subject matter or the paintings; we consider human relation to the natural world; we ask questions of art’s ability to evoke such feelings; we contemplate the brushstrokes and mark making. In short, the image stays with us even after we’ve stopped looking.