Radiant Blue – 2025.11.04 |

The Rui Cunha Foundation opens today, Tuesday, November 4th at 6:30pm, the Solo Art Exhibition “Radiant Blue” by Hu Jiawen (胡嘉雯), an artist who invites the viewers to immerse themselves in a world where traditional and contemporary coexist, through the dialogue between the tranquil lines of meticulous brushwork and the intense metallic burns, interwoven with ink, blue, and gold.

Co-organized by FRC, the Macau Youth Art Association (澳門青年美術協會), and the Macau Artist Society (澳門美術協會), the project includes 30 works comprising of Gongbi painting, traditional Chinese painting, experimental and contemporary painting, mixed media with metal leaf, and bronze sculpture, carefully selected by curator and renowned local artist Chang Kuok Meng (曾國明), President of the Macau Contemporary Ink Painting Association (澳門當代水墨協會).

Hu Jiawen‘s solo exhibition is «a visual art exploration rooted in traditional meticulous figure painting, integrating experimental ink techniques, blue printing, and gold leaf burning». The artist «reconstructs Eastern aesthetics from both traditional and contemporary perspectives, creating a painting environment on silk and rice paper that embodies both classical significance and modern consciousness», according to the organizers’ manifest.

The artist says this exhibition marks her «effort to step out of her comfort zoneand move beyond the label of ‘Gongbi Figure Painting’». By applying various means, she seeks to «convey the emotions and status of women in both virtual and real spaces, hoping that audiences will appreciate the beauty that arises from imperfection and transformation». The female figures in the works often exist in a space-time interwoven with reality and illusion.

«The delicate rendering of meticulous brushwork, the transformative quality of experimental ink, and the profound layers of blue printing are further enhanced by the intervention of burnt gold leaf — its cracks and imperfections do not signify damage, but rather imbue the figures with character and a sense of temporal texture». The light and mottling created by the burnt gold leaf «suggest the remelting of emotions and the imprint of memories».

Hu Jiawen holds a Bachelor in Visual Arts Education from the Polytechnic University of Macau, and a Master of Education from the University of Macau. Currently residing in the territory, she dedicates herself to art education and is a contracted artist with the Guangzhou International Art Fair, in addition to serving in several roles within multiple art organizations. Her works have been exhibited in places such as Beijing, Guangzhou, and Macau, having received multiple awardsand included in various collections. She is proficient in diverse genres, with a special talent for traditional Chinese painting, sketching, oil painting, printmaking, pottery, and Gongbi figure painting with fine brushwork.