LIN Hong-Wen was born in Tainan City, 1961. He majored in western painting and graduated from the Fine Arts Department at the National Taiwan College of Arts, known as the Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts today, in 1982. Because the artist was born in Tainan, his early paintings center on the culturally diverse historic city of Tainan. For a short period of time, he was based in Taipei, too. But after he was awarded the Lion Art New Artist Award in 1984, he decided to continue his artistic career back in Tainan, to immerse in his hometown, and to embrace the hospitality, sunshine and land of southern Taiwan.

Upon returning to Tainan, Lin joined the Southern Taiwan New Style Painting Association and actively cultivated the artistic soil there. Just about the same time, his acute eye for art turned from painting to space and installation art. He started applying new mediums to his work. In 1985, a special year for him, Lin created an impressive prelude to his exploration beyond painting. He combined materials from nature, such as bamboos and driftwood, with objects deriving from human life, such as plastics. For his poetic approach to transforming objects into art, Lin became a pioneer in quasi-installation and behavior art in southern Taiwan. Till today, he has developed a mature creative style of his own.

Other than painting and installation art, Lin makes iron sculptures, too. According to the artist, he was given a welding gun as a present in elementary school by his father. Since then, he has always loved using welding guns. When he tried to explore more mediums, metal natural came to his mind because it reminds him of the past. Lin’s works come in diverse forms; the artist loves trying out all kinds of artistic mediums. He believes that an artist should not be bound by mediums, but should rather find all possible ways to express ideas. Having dabbled in multiple fields, today, he is a painter, an eco-artist and an environment sculptor. He enjoys moving in and out of these fields.

With the touch of the artist, the cold, solid metal becomes a sculpture, expressing itself in unique rhythm out of the given solidity, while its figure extended, reaching toward the sky in such an energetic form. At the opposite end of the work, it is attached to the ground, as if it naturally grows out of the ground. This work contains abundant strength unspokenunderneath its unpretending appearance.

Overall, no matter they are environmental installations or paintings, LIN Hong-Wen’s artworks are essentially abstractionist and intuitive. For him, artistic mediums are not his focus, but just a means to capture or engrave the states of things and meanings. The aesthetic questions that Lin sheds lights on are highly spiritual. He aims to freely switch from one field to another to make art that’s ridden with spirituality. In addition, the installations based on driftwood, old oyster cultivation racks and bamboos demonstrate his care for land and nature. They even give the aroma of soil. By turning abstract thoughts into physical images, Lin proposes a gaze upon life in the now and sings about graphic poetry. He in the meantime substantiates his feelings s into dynamic elements in his artworks that resemble melodious musical notes.