On March 25th, 2013 I made a trip to the Crafts
Center on NC State’s campus with a friend of mine to look at the painting on
display there by Ellen Ma-Lin Ko. Ellen Ko is local artist and Crafts Center
instructor who has much practice in the art of traditional Chinese brush painting.
From a young age she was taught by two well-known artists in Taiwan whose names
are Lin Shen-Jean and Shao Yu-Huan. After graduating from the World College of
Journalism in Taiwan, she continued to actively practice painting. Her work has
been shown in many local arts shows in the Raleigh area as well as in Atlanta. 
By completing these paintings Ms. Ko is keeping a tradition alive. This style of art has been around for thousands of years and generally incorporates natural scenes. Two of the most commons, and those used by Ellen Ko herself, are landscapes and flower and bird paintings. Different types of brushes are used throughout the painting and these brushes are held in a particular way to achieve a certain brush stroke. The colors used in the paintings depend on what season the painting is supposed to be in and the subjects in the composition. There are also lines of poetry and seals on the paintings to help invoke a deeper sense of understanding in the painting which Ms. Ko also does.
Art is
important and holds meaning around the world. Paintings can transcend borders,
cultures, and people as language is not required in order to enjoy it or critique
it. Although there is Chinese written on these paintings, as mentioned, one can
still view the painting and form their own opinion. This exhibit has global
significance for this very reason. The exhibit exposes all who see it to a
different form of traditional painting from a culture they may not be familiar
with. They are thus able to experience first-hand art that does not have roots
in this country and are able to form opinions about it after being “up close
and personal”.
I quite
enjoyed the exhibit. Art is a beautiful thing that comes in many different
forms and this particular form speaks to me. It looks beautiful without it
having a large amount of detail. It is free flowing and seems to match the theme
of nature that the art form is attempting to convey. While all of the paintings
were lovely I have to say that my favorite two were titles Birds on a branch
and Birds with autumn leaves. This is just personal preference as I love the
way in which the small birds are painted. They both put a smile on my face and make
me happy.
My friend Jordan, who attended the exhibit with me, agreed
with me on his favorite two paintings. “I thought the exhibit was quite
impressive. The brush paintings, particularly those of the small birds, had
nice qualities that I enjoyed.”
I hope to attend more exhibits and events at the crafts
center in the future, as this was my first experience and I enjoyed it greatly.
The staff was quite lovely and polite as well. If you are in the area I would
encourage you to visit this exhibit.
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