“The basis of my art is magic. It is my aim to create images in ‘dimensions out of time,’ yet which are physically present, and which change continuously with the flow of light and shadow. The use of material is deliberate, and symbolic of images past, present, and future. Many of these images come from my study of the Chinese classics, especially the Yi Jing, and my work as a practitioner of Chinese medicine.”
A Retrospective of
Jing Nuan Wu’s Art
“I find Wu’s art to be powerfully healing, beautifully composed, and deeply spiritual.”
Would you like a reproduction of a work seen here?
Archival quality prints of any paintings can be made to any size
by getting in touch with us.
Summer 2024
One of the most magical properties of Wu’s painting style was to highlight and intertwine calm with intensity. Paintings like ‘It’s All Green To Me’ are the perfect example of the crucial importance of color to convey meaning. No fewer than seven shades of blue-green are carefully placed each with considered flashes of highlight and shadow. Tiny red Yin and Yang create garden gate boundaries between Heaven and Earth, their smallness setting an enormous scale for the overgrown vegetation. The impression is flighty abstraction but the impact is laden with symbology and the cloying invocation of verdant summer.
Spring 2024
Reflection after the recent spring eclipse. A rare phenomenon occurred on April 8th. Many thousands travelled great distances to participate, others chose to ignore the event. What happens before, during and after an eclipse we really do not completely understand although folklore has many interpretations. During the eclipse unique shadows are cast. Can we make use of that to propel us into the future and push away boundaries we may have felt before, perhaps. Does the fact that we could be blinded if we pay too much attention and stare during the phenomenon reflect that we in life are also susceptible to be blinded. After the darkness and the chill warmth and light reappear. Has a clearing taken place to see anew and set more positive choices in motion. Whatever we choose to believe the universe does shift and being able to show gratitude to its wonders by acknowledging and appreciating its gifts is a blessing.
Winter 2023
Our father's art is filled with portals. Some of those portals are symbols in the painting, as is the case in Purple Spirit Door. Some of those portals are created using actual doors as the frame for the canvas, as is the case for Seals of the Black Buddha. Some of those portals are represented by black circles, like the one in Healing Water and the Ice Dragon. His interest in these symbolic openings stemmed from his acupuncture practice. A well-known acupuncture point, for instance, is called "Spirit Gate." Activating an acupuncture point can shift the flow of energy (open a door) in one's body and catalyze healing in the process. I've always been intrigued by our father's use of symbols of a door/portal to ask big questions that we can use for self-reflection. Where does the door lead? Am I ready to go through that door? If the door is locked, is there a window I can open instead? His work meditates on the power of empty space and invites us to find our personal portals to transformation.
Autumn 2023
Our father would sometimes reference Chinese herbal formulas in his artwork, a visualization of ingredients that in their synergy attain a specific power to heal. Eight Treasures, one of the paintings we highlight for this Autumn, is an example. The painting portrays a well-known Chinese herbal formula with eight ingredients to fortify one’s qi and blood or, to quote a current vendor whose phrasing made me smile, it enhances your “life juice.”
The visual of the Eight Treasures painting is tied to many of my memories of our father’s acupuncture clinic in Washington, D.C., where it hung on the walls. Patients and visitors like myself would sit in the waiting area and contemplate (perhaps without realizing it) the colors and textures interacting with each other, a parallel to the relationship the ingredients of the formula have to each other; the painting as a whole a parallel to the artful science of the formula as a whole.
And it was this parallel of art to medicine that our father was exploring…in this instance, was there a way to translate the healing properties of Eight Treasures into a sensory experience through our eyes, asking the question: in contemplating the painting were we not also fortifying our qi and enhancing our life juice?
Summer 2023
Summer in the Northern hemisphere
Sun, gold, heat, red, dragon, yellow, water, cool, sea, breeze, ocean, beach, holidays, children, laughing, festive.
Ice cold drinks, ice cream, long summer nights.
Summer, the season to celebrate the Sun, warmth, friendship, family. Inspired by red, the yellow glow comfortingly encompasses.
Meditation Selections
Art can take us on the meditative journey to uncover our vast resources beyond that of everyday consciousness. The power within can have transformative benefits and lessen the stresses and burdens of life. Creating harmony and balance can keep health issues at bay and raise the quality of life on a profound and everlasting level. Everyone has the capacity to build a solid impermeable structure within themselves to facilitate one's ability to thrive. Art appreciated in all its forms since the beginning of time can serve as a guide and support us on that path of miracles.
Jing Nuan Wu crafted many pieces with the express intent of being used for meditation. We’ve collected some of our favorites in a new collection for you to enjoy!
Welcome to the first collection
We are pleased to announce that the first collection of works by Jing Nuan Wu has been released! Happy Spring to all and may this art inspire your endeavors, whatever they may be. The gallery is available in the menu under Art -> Spring 2023 or just click here. Please remember that any of these works can be printed to any size on archival paper and will last for 100+ years, plenty of time to enjoy their nuance and energy. Get in touch with us via email to discuss pricing, all revenue will be used towards the maintenance and exhibition of the collection, which has been in storage for over 20 years.
SPRING 2023
This site is a reintroduction to Jing Nuan Wu’s art.
It will commence with this Spring season showcasing a selection of 9 paintings from over several hundred of his artifacts. Set of paintings will be selected for Summer and the selections for Autumn and Winter will follow suit. For the next two years, releases of his artifacts which cover text, video and audio of the artist will be found here, so stay tuned!