Figurative Melody

{artspeak} - Julie Riggott, Pasadena Weekly

Acton Chin, "Rock 'n Roll," mixed media on canvas, 36" x 36"		Acton Chin, "Duet," mixed media on canvas, 36" x 48"

Reminiscent of the Cubist style of Pablo Picasso and George Braque, particularly Picasso's 1921 painting. "Three Musicians," Acton Chin's "Rock & Roll" depicts a musician in an abstract yet harmonious way. Though detached, each part forms a whole that speaks to the theme of Chin's current exhibit, "Figurative Melody" at the Absolute Art Gallery in San Marino.

"Rock & Roll" reveals a musician whose mouth, guitar and symbolically represented heart are emphasized in vibrant red. The hands are also given attention as realistic, detailed instruments of their own. All of these music-making elements fuse against a background of designs and symbols floating in watery blue.

"Duet," another painting on exhibit, boldly combines the Synthetic Cubism popularized by Picasso (including collage and the use of material such as string) with an organic style unlike the vibrant "Rock & Roll," Two musicians appear as abstractions from nature, parts of them look almost like seeds. The neutral hues of cream, beige, brown and stony blue merge the performers in a natural harmony.

Chin's current mixed-media on canvas series shows the evolution of his "figurative exploration," while focusing on a means of expression and spirituality that has been with us since ancient times: music. Chin has visited places where music and dance were an important part of the culture. While an art professor in China in the '70s, he was impressed by the passion of villagers in the countryside for singing and dancing by the fire. In the '80s, he was invited by the West African Artists' Association to exhibit his work and was similarly touched by their drum rhythms and expressive dance.

Moreover, Chin is a classical music lover. He said that works by Stravinsky, Sibelius and others bring to mind "many colors, beautiful images, vivid living natures."

Chin said, "In my paintings, I want to express all the feelings – happiness, sadness, peace, struggle, live-loop, life samsara, infinity – the strings like my nerves, microphones like mouths, all the music notes like my body cells and emotion."

His previous work, including his postmodern phase of the '90s, which included classical symbols combined with modern scientific signs and figures from Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" along with contemporary figurative drawings, attracted the attention of art critics. David Scott, the former director of the National Museum of Art in Washington, described Chin's paintings and drawings as "aggressively powerful."

Chin has been teaching and creating art for over 40 years, 20 of which he has spent in South Pasadena. His work has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries from China and Japan to France and Italy and even West Africa.