Artistic Crossroads by Bowen Peng
On view in the Small Meeting Room until July 31, 2024
Artist’s Statement
My name is Bowen Peng and I am currently a junior entering into the senior year after the summer at Winchester High School. Art has been one of my hobbies for many years now, having previously worked with many mediums and art forms such as sketching, Chinese painting, watercolor, and even acrylic on canvas painting. As an artist, my motive is to understand and express the beauty of the world through my own eyes. To me, art is not defined by the precision of its forms, lines, and colors but rather by its expression of an artist’s feelings and perception of the world. The purpose of my art is not to depict something in the real world as picture-perfect but to express the feelings that a particular scene has on its viewers.
About the Collection
All but one of the selections in my collection incorporate elements of both Chinese painting from the East and drawings from the West. A key component of Chinese painting is to express the feelings of nature and scenery through the vagueness of ink splotches contrasting the white background. The emphasis is placed on expression rather than precision. The purpose of the East-West hybrid is to generate cultural clashes through these two distinct art forms.
Artwork Descriptions
For the content of the artworks in my collection, I’ve split them into three main categories: animals, world cultures, and the future. Within the animal selections, there are three artworks: “Wrong Place, Wrong Time”, “The Middle Ground” and “Nature’s Refugee”. “Wrong Place, Wrong Time” is an artwork that expresses the explosiveness of parental love, with parents putting their bodies on the line to defend their children. “The Middle Ground” conveys the interaction between Eastern cultures and Western cultures. “Nature’s Refugee” expresses the damaging effects of rapid development and pollution on nature. The dark, gloomy nature of the piece’s background with futuristic buildings generates a sad expression on the tiger that is painted through Chinese painting.
One work regarding world cultures within this collection is “Crossroads”. This brings together the artworks of past cultures from around the world and from all time periods into one scene. Each culture within the picture is a string within the fabric of time, all woven together in one place, creating the DNA on which mankind is built.
The third category is the future category, which contains three works: Penetrate I, Penetrate II, and Oblivion. “Penetrate I” and “Penetrate II” are two artworks with similar content. Both artworks represent a figure of the future blasting into a scene from the past. These are represented by futuristic space shuttles placed within a Chinese-painted mountain scene. “Oblivion” is a colorful depiction of a faraway planet with a portal overlooking a futuristic city, representing humanity’s future in technology and space exploration.
The final piece of artwork that does not fit within the categories is “Serene Green.” This is a purely Chinese-painted piece representing the traditional use of ink and water within Chinese painting to depict Chinese landscapes.
Whaleship Essex Circa 1820 by Dan Schlossberg
On view in the display case through August 2024
Based out of Nantucket, The Essex sailed to the Pacific ocean in search of whale oil when it was struck and sunk by a Sperm Whale about 2000 nautical miles from South America. The Crew had to take to the whaleboats for a hazardous journey of survival. Only about 8 of the original crew of 20 would survive. The story would inspire Herman Melville to write the novel Moby Dick.
The artist Dan Schlossberg, a long time Winchester resident originally from New York City, has been involved in the Nautical Arts for the last decade and has a model of the Amistad which is on display at the Visitor Center of the Adams National Historic Park in Downtown Quincy.
For any questions or inquiries about this model you can email: [email protected]
Pilot Boat Phantom by Dan Schlossberg
On view in the display case through August 2024
Built in Boston, MA in 1867, she spent most of her time in the New York area. On March 14, 1886, she came to the rescue of the SS Oregon which was sinking off the coast of Fire Island and ferried some 400 passengers and crew to safety.
The Phantom was lost with all hands in the Great Blizzard of March 1888 off of Sandy Hook New Jersey. She was one of 15 ships lost in that storm.
Learn about the model ships on display and meet the artist at the reception on Wednesday, August 7 at 7:00pm.