From Eternal Garden to the Bright Side : Hsiao Chin Memorial Exhibition in Hong Kong

In the previous year, on June 30th, Hsiao Chin (1935-2023) embarked on a journey back to Sirius, a realm where he could reunite with his dearly beloved daughter, Samantha, in her cherished “Enteral Garden.” As we pay tribute to his life and artistic brilliance with this memorial exhibition, we delve into the transformative period of the 1990s, which stands as the apex of his artistic development. Starting with Bright Light – Homage to Ascendence (1990), we explore a collection of works spanning from the 1990s to the 2000s, including the “Crossing the Great Threshold,” “Samantha,” “Eternal Garden,” “Force of the New World,” “Concerto,” “The Bright Side,” and “Samadhi” series. Through a retrospective lens, we bear witness to the master's transformative journey from grief and loss to personal salvation and enlightenment.

Following the devastating loss of his daughter Samantha in 1990, the ensuing decade became a time of profound self-reflection and emotional restoration for the artist. Instead of perceiving Samantha's passing as an ultimate conclusion, Hsiao Chin embraced the Buddhist notion of everlasting existence. He firmly believed that although Samantha was no longer physically among us, her essence and spirit endured in a realm beyond our earthly senses, her “Eternal Garden,” a place where her consciousness continues to live on beyond the “Great Threshold.” As he eloquently expressed, “there is no death, but just non-presence.”

This profound conviction in the perpetuity of existence beyond death became a wellspring of solace and inspiration for Hsiao Chin. Mirroring the teachings of the Heart Sutra, “they neither arise nor perish; they are neither impure nor pure; they neither increase nor decrease.”  (不生不滅。不垢不淨。不增不減。) Just as the waves, when they approach the shore, their journey does not come to an end. Rather, they form an eternal cycle with the ocean, continuously ebbing and flowing in a harmonious rhythm. His enlightenment represented a continuation of his philosophy that emerged as early as the 1960s in his Punto series, which is imbued with profound layers of meaning and symbolism, all rooted in his profound exploration of Buddhist philosophy.

At the core of Buddhist teachings lies the belief that existence transcends the confines of the physical realm, embracing the eternal and boundless. Through his art, Hsiao Chin aspired to encapsulate this concept by forging a connection between the earthly and celestial planes. His artistic expression becomes a conduit that unites these realms, allowing viewers to glimpse the profound interplay between the temporal and the transcendent.

Hsiao Chin often said that he was from Sirius, a remote celestial realm. It was from this ethereal source that he derived his inspiration, effectively channelling the messages and energies of the universe onto his canvases. The outcome was a remarkable assemblage of paintings that encapsulated a deep-seated vitality and spiritual luminosity. Every brushstroke acted as a conduit through which the artist transmuted universal vibrations into vivid visual expressions.

- Calvin Hui

Exhibition Curator, Co-founder and Chairman of 3812 Gallery