Marlene Tseng Yu
Artist Statement

The beauty of the universe changes with time. As the days pass and the seasons change, the sky, earth, mountains and rivers repeat in patterns that are never really quite the same. In my search for the variations of the many faces in nature, I have found that nature provides an infinite source of inspiration for artistic expression. I love the many elements in our environment, be they as broad as the horizon beyond or small as cells under the microscope. In this vast setting, I hope to capture the spirit of the universe, its rhythm and movements, its quiet and angry moods, its colors and forms...

With the traditional Chinese and Western art training, together with my own experiments, I have sought to create techniques that can fully express my ideas and feelings. The techniques may vary greatly from painting to painting, as to embody the scope of my expression. The reference to nature is the focus of all my paintings. I have found that painting in water media - acrylic demands an absolute control of the medium to achieve the various effects, textures, and transparencies. The scale of the painting is a challenge, but not a limitation for me. To produce on canvas or paper what I have in my mind, my ideas and feelings on the universe, is a great challenge.

--Marlene Tseng Yu, September 16, 1968

Marlene Tseng Yu was born in 1937 and came to the U.S. in 1963. From 1969 to 2007, she lived and worked in SoHo, New York City, and in 2008, opened a studio in Long Island City. She received her Bachelor in Fine Arts degree from the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei in 1960, and her Master in Fine Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1967. She taught art at Denver University in Colorado in 1967 to 1968. Since 1994, she has been on the Advisory Committee of the Fine Arts Department of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Since 1995, she has curated exhibitions for the new art movement, “Forces of Nature." Marlene is Founder and Curator of the Rain Forest Art Foundation (2001 to present).

Artist Web Site
http://www.MarleneTsengYu.com
Works & History
2015Bossier Arts Council, “Crystal Reef Series, 1998-2014,” Louisiana, USA
Art Gallery at Kaohsiung Medical College, “Glacier Melting, 2006-2013,” Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Sci-Port: Louisiana’s Science Center, “Glacier Melting, 2003-2013”, Louisiana, USA
Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College, “Dream Series”, Louisiana, USA
Meinung Cultural Center, “Glacier Melting, 1971-2013,” Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2014Marlene Yu Museum, “Forces of Nature, 1988-2013”, Louisiana, USA
Artspace, “Fire-Element of Life, 1999-2003”, Louisiana, USA
Galerie Wild, “Forces of Nature: Glacier Melting, 1992-2013”, Zürich, Switzerland
Robinson Film Center, “Emerald Forest”, 1998-2004, Louisiana, USA
Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, “Purple Swamp and Nature Abstraction”, Louisiana, USA
2013Kaohsiung Museum of Art, “Forces of Nature & Dream Series: 50 Years of Creation”, 1963-2013, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2012Fort Collins Museum of Art, “ICE: Melting Glaciers and Avalanche Paintings,” 1965-2012, Colorado, USA
ACA Galleries, “Forces of Nature – A Survey, 1970-2012”, New York, USA
2011Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art, “Forms Environmental, 1993-2007”, Nevada, USA
2010Magma Arte & Congresos, “Forces of Nature, 1971-2007”, Costa Adeje de Tenerife, Spain
Godwin Ternbach Museum, “Nature & Cosmos, 1966-2010”, New York, USA
Centro de Arte La Recova, “Forces of Nature, 1971-2007”, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
Shanghai Art Museum, “Forces of Nature – 40 years, 1970-2010”, Shanghai, China
2009Today Art Museum, “Forces of Nature – Green Movement in Art, 1971-2009”, Beijing, China
Chelsea Art Museum, “Forces of Nature – Green Movement in Art, 1971-2009”, New York, USA
2008National Art Museum of China, "Forces of Nature - Mural-Sized Paintings," Beijing, China
Crossing Art Gallery, "Forces of Nature - 40 Years," New York, USA
National Gallery in Prague, "Forces of Nature - 40 Years," Prague, Czech Republic
2007"Melina" Municipal Cultural Centre of Athens, "Glacier Melting - 40 years," Athens, Greece
2006Towson University, Center for the Arts, "Forces of Nature, 1971-2006," Maryland, USA
Burgenländische Landesgalerie, "Forces of Nature – Mural-Sized Paintings," Eisenstadt, Austria
Orangerie Schloss Esterházy, “Forces of Nature – Mural-sized Paintings, 2003,” Eisenstadt, Austria
Lincoln Center Cork Gallery, “Female Language,” New York, USA
Southwest Minnesota State University, Art Museum at Marshall, “People of the Mind,” Minnesota, USA
The Museum of Kyoto, “Ecology Earth Art Show 21,” Kyoto, Japan
Asian Fusion Gallery, “Body – Fact of Human Body,” New York, USA
2005QCC Art Gallery, Queensborough Community College, “Forces of Nature – 40 years of Art, 1965-2005," New York, USA
CU Art Museum, University of Colorado at Boulder, “Forces of Nature – Oversize Paintings, 1998-2005," Colorado, USA
Asian Fusion Gallery, “Revelation,” New York, USA
Asian Cultural Center, “Rainforest Art Show,” New York, USA
Museum of Modern Art, “5th Ecology Earth Art Show 21,” Saitama-Ken, Japan
Leeuwenberch, “Reasons to Love the Earth Show,” Utrecht, Netherlands
Chung-Cheng Art Gallery, St. John’s University in Queens, “Metropolitan Chinese American Women Show,” New York, USA
Asian Cultural Center, “Grand Opening – Asian Fusion,” New York, USA