Date: Sep 23, 2011

"Re-Interpreting Nature, New Work by Cui Fei"

At the Rosenberg Gallery, Through October 26, Room 136 Calkins Hall, South Campus

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY …  Nature is a recurring theme in Cui Fei’s work, and guests to her exhibit at Hofstra University’s Rosenberg Gallery will see how natural objects, such as tendrils, twigs and thorns, evoke the flowing forms of Chinese calligraphy.  By using natural forms that seem to pre-exist the written text, Cui creates formations which can be interpreted as mysterious messages from nature.

Re-Interpreting Nature, New Work by Cui Fei will be on display at the Rosenberg Gallery through October 26, 2011.  Viewing hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, people may call the Fine Arts Department at (516) 463-5474 or (516) 463-5379. Admission is free and open to the public and the gallery is ADA compliant.

The work at this exhibition are from two of Cui’s ongoing projects - Tracing the Origin and her calendar based work.

Chinese writing originated from nature as ideograms and the characters grew simplified over time, separating from their original context and becoming abstracted. With Tracing the Origin series, Cui’s work abstracts nature even further. Working with grape vine tendrils she created two dimensional works of varying scale and color as well as three dimensional works made with a variety of materials. Different media and modes of presentation used in this series, such as printmaking and installation, are intended to symbolize how Chinese written characters have become detached from their origin; and by inference, how humans have also detached themselves from nature. More recently, Cui explored some of these same themes, working with photography in Tracing the Origin VI_I–III, and experimenting with sculpture using wire in Tracing the Origin XVI.

Read by Touch and Not Yet Titled are from a series of her calendar based works. The former work refers to her personal history and the latter alludes to recent historic events. Both works are presented here as details of larger works.

Cui is able to magically organize the riot of random natural forms into a poetic beauty that is instantly recognizable as her own unique style and approach. In her exploration of the relationship of human beings and nature, it is almost as if she were translating letters from nature herself, presenting a lost language that we can only understand through gesture.

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