Current Exhibition

Our fifth Art competition “Grey” started in March 2025 and concluded on May 02, 2025. Art Room Gallery received entries from many countries around the world: Canada, USA, New Zealand, Taiwan, Ireland, Poland, France and Spain. The Grey theme in this competition included a diversity in types, styles and mediums (ink, graphite, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, oil on canvas, bronze, digital art, photography). The following evaluation criteria has been used for judging the artwork: creativity, interpretation of the theme, originality and quality of art, overall design, demonstration of artistic ability, and usage of medium. Aside from First, Second, and Third place Jury also presented Merit awards and Honorable Mention awards.

Thank you, and enjoy the exhibition!

First place

Statement:

Cher Pruys, ASAA SCA, IGOR, AAPL, CSAA, AMS, LMS, OSA, MAA, CFA, NOAPS, PSOA, AWA., AAOA. I am a self taught artists working in water based medium, mainly acrylic, but also at times gouache and water-colour. I am a hyperrealism painter fascinated by the world around me. I am very drawn to shiny surfaces as well as transparent objects, especially when the lighting brings them to life. I look for beauty in everyday objects that most people take for granted or just don’t truly see them as they are. The seemingly boring and mundane subjects can truly be like magnets if portrayed in the right light. Shiny metal is one of those materials that can host endless visions….the light hits it and the reflections are captured on the smooth, sleek surface…people and animals especially the eyes...an artists dream! My future art plans are to paint the countless subjects I have chosen to become paintings and to share my art with as many people as I can. "To take my inner visions with my hands and create a work of art for you the viewer .... That is the ultimate in self expression."

Second place

Statement:

Jason Shih was born in 1972 in Taiwan. In 1991, he began to specialize in metal sculpture when he was a sophomore in the Fine Arts Dept. of Taipei National University of the Arts. In 2001, he graduated from School for American Crafts, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA, and majored in Metal Sculpture. And then, he served as the metal sculptor Albert Paley's assistant, involved in crafts and public art work practices. Furthermore, he earned his Art Ph. D. from China Academy of Art, China (2015). Now, he lives in Taiwan, and consistently engages in the both areas of sculpture and public art. Jason Shih’s artistic vision is shaped by a diverse array of influences, from contemporary dance to avant-garde fashion. He cites German choreographer Pina Bausch and British designer Alexander McQueen as significant inspirations. Bausch’s explorations of time and space resonate with Shih’s interest in sculpture’s capacity to embody kinetic energy and spatial imagination. McQueen’s innovative approach to contemporary imagery and themes provides Shih with a broad canvas for creative expression. Shih’s work is also influenced by the aesthetic principles of Futurism and Constructivism, movements that emphasize dynamic energy and continuous motion. These influences are evident in his pursuit of capturing the beauty of movement and the elegant restraint of natural forces. Shih’s sculptures often depict moments of defying gravity, capturing the fleeting beauty of motion in a static form. As a professional sculptor, Jason likes to experience the taste of life with perceptual observation in the subtle moments, and also likes the ever-changing situation of game shapes in the poetic imaginary space. For Jason, art creation is to share various moods and stories in daily life.

Statement:

My paintings become the venue to self-liberation. During the isolation of COVID, painting began again with zealousness, ease, and found a genuine newness and expression to work My work utilizes color, shapes, and lines. The core of my work focuses on color and the use of color theory. Through observation, it was found that if I placed a black box on a page, it became stagnant – a black box. However, when I drew a jagged red line through the box, it became dynamic, a new form of energy. Using circles, swatches of color and lines, gave liveliness to the painting, creating movement. When painting, I find it beneficial to execute a series of work either similar in color, expression or design. During my education at Rochester Institute of Technology – (MFA, BFA), I began to follow T. S. Elliot’s Objective Correlative. This is a means of expressing emotion in art by using either set objects, a situation, or a chain of events. Through this method, the painting becomes that emotion. The choice is to do abstract painting, because it supplies the necessary tools allowing the portrayal of thoughts and emotions in work. In my work, I do not dictate the emotion found in the painting; but leave it for the viewer’s own discovery and interpretation. Representation is alluded. This gut feeling leaves the hand and heart of individual and leaps to a medium to portray that fervor and intensity. Tools such as spray paint, Conte crayons, graphite, charcoal and acrylic paint are used. Color draws the eye over the piece to the core. The lines keep the eyes moving, while symbols quietly state, “look at me”. The exchange between colors, lines and shapes tell the story—my story,