Guilin Scenery, oil on canvas

Pang Jiun is a Taiwanese painter whose works take a contemporary approach to traditional Chinese painting styles and subject matter. Jiun’s works are delicately composed and tend toward very desaturated color schemes.

Misty Mountains, oil on canvas

I love the sense of calm in most of Jiun’s works – natural landscapes and architecture feature prominently, but the images are devoid of human figures that might offer the viewer a clue at the place and time. The images are calm but not fully pastoral, and many of them offer moods of meditation, stoicism, even loneliness.

The way Jiun uses color over the entirety of his body of work is also notable – in some works, saturated warm hues – reds and oranges – take hold of the entire canvas, creating a bright and exciting tone. In the other, subdued works, occasional pops of pastel pink and green appear, but are never out of place or overwhelming. Though the medium differs, the style of the work reminds me somewhat of Wa Truong's paintings.

Double Fishes, oil on canvas