There is a marble design at walk-way at the Forbidden City that was burned during a fire  in the 15th century.  The ashes have never been removed from the marble. Here, I am showing some of the designs from this marble walkway, and blending the stele's within the images. 

The sights, sounds and smells of Beijing, China permeated my senses the moment I arrived and drove the flower bedecked freeways to our hotel, a converted monastery in Old Beijing.

The polite and professional staff at the 500 year old monastery, Soluxe, became a living bridge to the past in the faces of these young people, some meeting a person from the Western world for the first time, I saw a direct connection to their past culture, traditions and spirituality. The bridge presented a dichotomy of a past and future environment.

These paintings are the messages from the young people I met in Beijing. The new works speaks not of the forms but of the forces and intensities, not of stabilities but of the dynamics the youth encounter as they draw from their past; the tombs, ancient elders and historic palaces so revered by the people of China.

The layers you see are my attempt to show the viewer all the events that went into the making of the paintings. There are conceptual possibilities in the pictorial space when one pushes the paint around and through and ultimately off the picture plane.

Enjoy,

Patricia

Although this looks like a traditional landscape, some elements are present to explore. The images of people floating in various parts of the painting represent the ancient spirits who built this "Great Wall" of China. The squares floating in the foreground are images of the watchtowers the soldiers inhabited to protect the Chinese empire. I let drips occur at random points in the painting to remind me of the gravity and heaviness of the wall's construction.

Award of Merit

2010 California
State Fair
Fine Arts Exhibition

Zi (Purple) refers to the North Star.
Jin (Forbidden) Hence "zinjin", the traditional name for the Forbidden City. The Manchus (after conquest of Beijing) called it: "Layered City".

Today it is called: "Gugong" or "Former Palace".

In this painting you will see a Manchurian general, purple steles, and colors of pomp and circumstance. I have shown the strictness of the life there and the planes and angles of the floor plans in the shapes and colors I have chosen.

This piece looks condensed and compact, such as "Zijin" actually was during the dynasties.