Flowers, butterflies and femininity — these are the themes that were celebrated at Bridging the World Through Art, an exhibition held earlier this month at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York City. The exhibition featured works by painters Lee Chin-chu (李金祝) and Leontina Pineda Lupiac, from Taiwan and Honduras, respectively.
The exhibition is the second in a cooperative project that was initiated last year to highlight the ties between Taiwan and Honduras. This year’s event was attended by representatives and ambassadors from 20 countries.
Born in Yunlin, Lee had yet to receive any formal training in painting when she met renowned Taiwanese painter Chang Yi-hsiung (張義雄) at his solo exhibition in 1988. Lee, who was 35 at the time, followed Chang to Paris to study painting. There, she received awards for her work at the city’s Spring and Autumn salons in 1990, 1991 and 1992.
Lee is known for her use of bright and vibrant colors. In the oil paintings displayed in New York, she examined feminine beauty with a bold palette of reds and greens that conveys a sense of jubilation and festivity.
Lupiac is herself a story of female strength and courage. A near-fatal car accident in 1999 prompted Lupiac, then 56, to turn to painting as therapy to overcome alcoholism and, later, breast cancer. Now, a decade on, this artist of Spanish, French and indigenous ancestry is widely recognized in the US for a style that blends realism and impressionism, two genres that the artist says draw her closer to God and Nature.
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