HSIAO Chin

Hsiao Chin, courtesy name Youlan, was born in Shanghai and moved to Taiwan with his family in 1949. He studied painting under Li Zhongsheng and became a key member of the Ton-Fan Art Group. In 1955, he traveled to Spain for further studies but later abandoned his degree to pursue artistic development in the more vibrant art scene of Barcelona. Over the years, his artistic achievements in Italy gained widespread recognition, and his works attracted attention at numerous international exhibitions.

The birth of Hsiao Chin’s artistic style reflected his mental state and pressures of the time. Although his works featured compositions of dots and geometric forms, these shapes were never calculated based on strict mathematical proportions. Instead, they emerged intuitively, inspired by Taoist philosophy and theories. His art demonstrated an irrational minimalistic aesthetic that fused Eastern and Western elements, expressing a deep understanding of nature’s essence and symbolizing the abstract combination of heaven, earth, and humanity.

During his time in Milan, Hsiao’s artistic style evolved—his signature “Hsiao-style” minimalism gradually transitioned into the "Zen" series. In 1999, his work The Sublimation of Samantha conveyed his grief over his daughter’s passing. Following a series of artworks created in her memory, Hsiao developed the Transcending the Great Threshold and Beyond the Great Threshold series, which explored the passage through life and death—a process of birth, death, and eternal rebirth. The layered compositions in his paintings represented the cyclical nature of life, while flowing lines symbolized the dynamic cosmic energy of nature.

Throughout his life, Hsiao Chin faced numerous hardships. To him, artistic creation was not an end goal but a means of exploring life itself. He once expressed his artistic philosophy, emphasizing the conceptual nature of painting, which he described as the “psychological tendency” that guided his creative process.