Breathing the Ephemeral is the title of one of the new paintings by Wyn-Lyn TAN. It is a striking acrylic-on-canvas landscape showing a rock emerging from fog or maybe a mountain peaking through the clouds; as there is no sense of proportion, it’s hard to tell, but the stillness of the landscape gives it a sense of peace.The immersive work is part of the artist’s fourth solo show at FOST Gallery, which this time evokes spaces with depth and nuances, as well as a sense of vastness (and emptiness). “And like traversing over unfamiliar landscapes, it leads to the discovery of atmospheres and emotional terrains,” explains Tan who has been seeking to “chase the ephemeral” in her practice.Her theme is hardly surprising for someone who, in recent years, has spent time in Finland, Norway, and the international territory of Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Circle. Tan recalls first arriving in Fiskars Village, Finland, to a winter landscape blanketed in snow. “I saw a resonance in that Northern vastness that connected with the sense of 'breathing space' and emptiness in Chinese landscape paintings,” she recalls.Tan’s works combine her training in Chinese painting together with the influence of European painting and the direct visual impact of her residencies. “On one level, my work in this exhibition pays homage to these landscapes I’ve been to, as I give breadth to vistas of memories, light, color, and atmosphere. But moving beyond the ‘landscape,’ the act of mark-making is as much a subject,” she explains.As well as the acrylic on canvass works she has been working with wood as a material for the first time, she has created a series of shaped paintings cut out of plywood. Alluding to her roots in traditional Chinese painting, there are also several scroll-like vistas that create an immersive meditative panorama.The Blue of Distance runs until Oct 25, at FOST Gallery.
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