An exhibition featuring works by five artists who only use their mouths and feet to paint has opened in Taichung’s Dali District (大里).
The exhibition, running through April 29, displays 35 oil and ink paintings made by Lin Yu-chen (林宥辰), Chien Jung-nan (簡榮男), Lin I-tung (林以通), Chang Chia-hsun (張家勳) and Tseng Chi-hsiung (曾啟雄), who have lost their hands or are paralyzed due to vehicle or workplace accidents.
They have overcome their physical challenges and “paint the beauty of life,” only using their mouths or feet to hold paint brushes, Dali District Administrator Cheng Cheng-chung (鄭正忠) said.
Photo: Chen Chien-chih, Taipei Times
Cheng said he hoped the exhibition will help turn Dali into a warm and welcoming place that values art infrastructure and promotion.
Lin Yu-chen, who also curates the exhibition, was born in a farming family in Yunlin County. He had both of his arms amputated and lost his hearing after being exposed to 1,000 volt of electricity in a workplace accident in 1991.
After experiencing agonizing pain during initial treatment in an intensive care unit, he shielded himself from the world for three years, he said.
Photo: Chen Chien-chih, Taipei Times
However, with support and encouragement from his family, he realized that “life is full of ups and downs, and one only learns to cherish it after going through painful experiences,” he said.
“I don’t have any other options in life, so I have to stand up for myself,” he added.
In 1995, art teacher Chen Ling-ling (陳玲玲) led him into the world of calligraphy and ink painting, which he began learning from Chen Ming-hsien (陳銘顯) the following year.
Other participants also took up painting after overcoming their trauma.
Chien was left paralyzed by a vehicle accident in 1989 when he was on his way to a friend’s home.
He learned to design Web sites while rehabilitating and attended mouth-and-foot painting classes organized by the Taichung Welfare Promotion Association for the Disabled in 1999.
Lin I-tung had both of his arms amputated following an electric shock while he was cleaning the top floor of his house in 1982.
His life was full of remorse until 2000, when association member Hsueh Pao-kuo (薛寶國) encouraged him to take up mouth-and-foot painting and paved the way for his creative journey.
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