ACC is honored to announce the support of Wu Chi-Tsung (ACC 2013), in partnership with Sean Kelly Gallery, through the sale of his work, Cyano-Collage 082. The proceeds will go towards ACC’s next generation of artists, scholars, and arts professionals. 


Cyano-Collage 082, 2020. Cyanotype photography, Xuan paper, acrylic gel, 122 x 108 cm.

In 2013, Wu Chi-Tsung received a six-month ACC Fellowship to travel from Taipei to research contemporary art practices in New York. Chi-Tsung masterfully merges media spanning photography, video, installation art, painting, and more. His experimentation with cyanotypes began in 2012, and later grew into the Cyano-Collage series (氰山集系列). The first piece of this monumental series was created in memory of his mentor Ni Tsai-Chin, art critic and artist renowned for his technique of ink painting collage.


Cyano-Collage process during exposure (left, middle) and Wu Chi-Tsung in 2017 art residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin.

To create his mesmerizing works, Chi-Tsung wrinkles Xuan (rice) paper coated in photosensitive chemicals and exposes the paper under sunlight. Each piece is born from a balance of possibility and unpredictability. The position of the sun, the force of the wind, the texture of the light—each environmental nuance is reflected in the final design. From the resulting dozens of textured papers, he selects pieces to reorganize, edit, and mount on canvas in meticulous detail.


Cyano-Collage production process at Bali studio

While Wu Chi-Tsung's Cyano-Collages neither feature ink nor brush stroke, they are informed by painterly technique and tradition. His mountainous layers of Xuan paper merge the process of experimental photography with the atmosphere of shan shui landscape painting. Wu Chi-Tsung was recognized for his innovation as recipient of the 2019 Liu Kuo Sung Ink Art Award. Known as “the father of modern Chinese ink painting,” Liu Kuo Sung is a fellow ACC grantee who received a 1966 fellowship to serve as artist-in-residence at the University of Iowa and observe contemporary art practices in Hong Kong, India, and Thailand.


Wu Chi-Tsung and Liu Kuo Sung at Liu Kuo Sung Ink Art Awards (left), Wu Chi-Tsung and fellow grantees in NYC in 2013 (right)

Throughout his experimentation with cyanotypes, Wu Chi-Tsung has found it characterized by a regenerative process—should it fade in light, it can be restored by resting in darkness. This cyclical process of regeneration and renewal is similarly represented in the continuum of the ACC network. Wu Chi-Tsung builds on the legacy of the past and providing opportunities for the future.