Chen was honored in a ceremony at the Salmagundi Art Club on Dec. 4 for her winning oil painting “Shock,” which depicts a Falun Gong practitioner losing her shackles and rising high in her prison cell as guards look on.
When she submitted her three entries to the international competition, Chen said she never thought about winning. “I just wanted to convey, as a Falun Dafa practitioner, the message of my belief.”
Her other entries were “The Call of Innocence” and “Silent Night.”
Chen, now based in Canada, received a $10,000 prize, a certificate and a gold medal.
She’s here on Saipan to join her mother, friends and other Falun Gong practitioners in celebrating the Chinese New Year on Feb. 14.
Saipan, she said, plays an important role in her life as an artist and an art teacher.
The beautiful sceneries of Saipan have always inspired her, she said.
While on island, she will paint her favorite subjects: local flowers and cultural dancers.
Chen’s paintings are displayed at the Phoenix Arts Gallery in Garapan
Chen, who used to teach art in schools here, said there are many potential artists in the CNMI.
She said she wants to see other artists who can express the “good side” of a subject.
Looking at a work of art that is beautiful and has a good message will allow people to feel peace and experience good energy, she said.
Artwork is like a music — it can change the mood of a person, she added.
She encourages aspiring artists in the CNMI to paint “good, inspiring, beautiful” subjects that convey positive messages to the people.
“Art never ends. It is the venue where we can always express something about our feelings,” she said.
According to Chen, she discovered that the improvement of her spiritual level heightened her artistic accomplishments.
“The truth of art is pure truth, pure compassion and pure beauty, and this will make the world pure, clean and beautiful,” she said.
