Hwang Chao-mo was born in Donggang Township, Pingtung County in 1939. He enrolled at the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese Culture College (presently known as the Chinese Culture University) in 1963 and graduated in 1967. For his excellent academic performance, he was invited to be a teaching assistant for his alma mater and later became a lecturer. After years of teaching at the university, he resigned in 1973 and pursued further studies in Belgium, so as to appreciate master western artworks with his own eyes and to sharpen his creative skills. Hwang, already excelling in calligraphy and Chinese painting, received solid trainings in western painting and sculpture at the Belgium Royal Fine Arts Academy (Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts). It was during this time that he turned to the world of three-dimensional art (sculpture) from two-dimensional art (painting). In 1977, Hwang graduated. He had the first solo exhibition at the Qianlong Art Gallery, Brussels, in addition to many other exhibitions that followed suit. He stayed on in Belgium and created even more artworks. In 1980, Hwang became a lecturer in calligraphy at Catholic University of Leuven. In 1988, he returned to Taiwan and took up the director position at the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese Culture University. In the same year, he was invited by the Council of Cultural Affairs to host a repair project of Huang Tu-shui’s sculpture model of Sakyamuni Coming Out from the Mountain and the reviewer of Chi Mei Culture Foundation Art Talent Project. During his stay in Belgium, he was the principal of the Sun Yat-sen School (L’ecole de Sun Yat-sen) for some time. The artist put so much effort in the advocacy of art in the expat community, as well as the exchange between the art communities of Belgium and Taiwan so much, that he was awarded the Haihua Grand Prize. Hwang still lives in Belgium today.

In addition to an “open” perspective, which is characteristic of Hwang’s Chinese landscape painting, subjective colors are used in Purple Mountain in Chipen, Taiwan rather than objective ones in his previous works in the 1990s. The picture is based on blue and brown color hues, and is presented in three equal sections. The beauty of Chipen in Taiwan seems to be captured through a wide perspective lens; a serene-looking earth and lively-looking mountains shine brilliantly against one another in the picture, bringing forth dynamism.

In 1973, the artist pursued further studies in Belgium, devoting himself to the study of three-dimensional sculptures instead of two-dimensional paintings. During his stay, Hwang exchanged ideas with his counterparts from around the world. In a diversified cultural setting, Hwang felt a strong desire to look into his own roots. To manifest his own culture, a unique personal painting style became his pursuit of this period. Hwang started to experiment on oriental elements after receiving solid trainings in western art. The dots, lines and planes are so perfectly presented in a Chinese style that the paintings exude quiet, emotional charm. Because Hwang loves nature, he often portrays landscape. The mountains and waters in his paintings are vast, far and wide. The artist is able to bring western and oriental painting together despite their differences, no matter he uses oil paint or ink and brush. He is also able to combine two-dimensional visual elements with the aesthetics of three-dimensional space in a perfect way.