Emily Cheng, Chasing Clouds

Painter Emily Cheng has been working in the U.S. and Asia for the last 30 years. This immense monograph focuses on 305 drawings that she has made in the last decade, and includes an index that traces her diverse sources: China's Zhou to Qing Dynasties; Renaissance, Baroque and Byzantine art and architecture; Korean, Japanese and Indian cultures; the study of drapery in the West and in Asia, largely through religious figures; and depictions of the arabesque in plants, flowers, trees, clouds and fire in Taoist and Buddhist imagery. This volume includes an introduction by Cheng and essays by curator Chang Tsong-zung and critic Kevin Power. Cheng's work is contextualized within the field of contemporary abstract painting, and the subtle differences between European and Chinese techniques, influences and methodologies in her work are examined in detail.