Ed Pien is emerging onto the Canadian stage as a
leading contemporary artist. Sheila Perry, director of The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery in Newfoundland and
Labrador, says his technique is intriguing for audiences. “He creates these experiences and worlds where
people can lose themselves.”
For more than 25 years this Toronto-based artist has thrived in creating a unique visual language of tales
and myths, invoking demons and humans and good and evil. With each out-of-this-world installation, he plunges
viewers into his unusual worlds, which spark the imagination.
Pien has exhibited his drawings and visual installations both nationally and internationally for the past two
decades. From Aug. 27 to Nov. 28, Pien is showing his installations, drawings and paper cutouts in the
exhibit Haven of Delight at The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery.
Pien draws a lot of his inspiration for this exhibit based on the time he spent in Taiwan, his place of
birth, as a child. When he was young, he was surrounded by an Asian belief system based on gods, demons and
ghosts. In Haven of Delight, he draws upon those representations from early childhood and
illustrates these beings struggling through a world of good and evil.
He deals with tensions between two cultures, where he forces the viewer to face complex human conditions like
the fear and anxiety of death and life, which these beings ultimately face. While these themes may be
haunting, Pien introduces beauty and delicacy, which flourish in stark contrast.
For the exhibit he has created a magical, grand-scale haven, or sanctuary, to contrast the plight and perils
of our culture. The “spirit houses” Pien builds are flexible, circular and incredible in their lightness.
While this 3D environment comes to life through Pien’s unique technique, the mystical world and its story do
as well, as viewers are submerged in their tranquility.
Not only does Haven of Delight use a number of different drawing techniques, it also features paper
cutouts, which his main centrepiece is made from. During a trip to China in May 2004, he discovered the
traditional Chinese method of cutting paper. Since then, he has created grand 3D worlds and environments by
using an X-Acto knife to cut material away from large sheets of paper and canvas to create intricate images
and lifelike landscapes on a grand scale.
This huge installation, which embodies the beauty of life, is the centrepiece of his 12 other works. Around
14 feet tall and made of five big tarps, the environment will envelop the viewer through Pien’s delicate
paper labyrinth that incorporates light, video and sound.
“A lot of artists try to discuss the human condition, but this is a new technique and I think it’s going to
be magical,” says Perry. “The viewer will come and be submerged by this environment and have a completely
different perspective.”
Visitors can see Pien himself at the artist’s reception set to take place at The Rooms on Oct. 23. The
following day there will be a forum, where audiences can interact with Pien by asking questions while he
explains pieces in his exhibit. •
