Pursuing the Answer of the Tao in the Suspended State -Loy Luo is a sensitive female artist who likes to put her thinking cap on. She is in herself an entity of contradictions and we may feel her inner struggles, her leaps in thinking and her entanglements. Her personality shows multiple contrary sides, and she feels herself being torn, which is amply showed her artworks. She likes to use acrylic because it has water character, which she considers Chinese; and to use oil paint because of its oily character, which is seen as Western. At the same time, she blends the two together through force. She says, "My ideal is to build a bridge between the West and the East. I have to do this or else I will feel bad, as I very much like Chinese culture and am infatuated with Western culture. So in a way, I feel obliged.

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Luo is a person who likes questioning, whether they are directed towards other people or at herself. She has been studying and thinking about philosophy and exploring the inner spiritual world. Her artwork is a pursuit of the Tao, a process of enlightenment. This can be seen in her paintings, Untitled Memories series and Suspending series, and in her series of sculptures entitled Poem. In her works, feelings and thinking are one and the same, while senses and rationality are unified. When she paints, she looks for inspiration through using the paints and changing layers and layers, until she finds an ideal images. In reality, she feels suspended, probably because she fell into a hole by accident when she went swimming in her childhood. She could neither rise up to the surface nor sink to the bottom, and had to see yellow water bubbles flowing by. That near-death experience is the origin of her thinking behind the suspended state of life. Her Suspending series is an experssion of suspended state of her life experiences, through dreamlike hues and exploratory strokes.

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It is meaningful to embark on an artistic pursuit of the Tao. Inspired artworks are powerful . Our spiritual growth is a process of studying , thinking, questioning and seeking the truth. Sometimes, Our effort is aimless, uncertain and suspended. I think we will find the right answer if we continuously investigate the truth with our own wisdom independently and ceaselessly. I like the dedication Luo has shown to art, and admire her spiritual thinking and expressions conveyed through her paintings. I think that her art creation is a process of self-discovery and self-reflection, as weill as a process of seeking the truth and answering her inner questions. (Ning Zhang)