Interview: A Certain Quietness

Originally Published by Taos News Tempo Magazine March 17, 2011 pages 24, 25

Mimi Chen Ting is among artists featured in ‘Mostly Taos' show at Hulse/Warman
By Cara Fox

"Clarity" is what Mimi Chen Ting says you may notice most about her work, now on view in a vibrant group show called "Mostly Taos-Spring Show" at Hulse/ Warman Gallery, 222 Paseo del Pueblo Sur. The show runs through April 30 and includes work by Petro Hul, William Stewart, David Zimmerman, Michio Takayama, Beatrice Mandelman and Charles Strong. Three of Ting's paintings, "Refractions," "Divertimento 2" and "Divertimento 4" greet gallery-goers in a long, narrow room up front at Hulse/ Warman, paired with two metalframed works by Brian Coffin. The effect of this combination is something like precision versus precision –two distinct paths.

Originally from China, Ting and her husband came to Taos by way of California, where they still spend some months during the year in Sausalito. Escaping the frenetic energy of the West Coast, Ting considers Taos her "storm shelter."

Newcomers to her work will most likely be struck by its soothing smoothness. "There is a certain quietness about my work," Ting said. Staying true is also noticeable in her paintings. "I don't think of myself as a veering person," said Ting. "I put one foot in front of the other. My work now is where I am supposed to be," she said.

Jerry Warman of Hulse/Warman Gallery agrees. "We appreciate the consistency of Mimi's work –a focused concept translated on canvas. We are drawn to artists who take a concept and work it through over time." This consistency can be clearly seen in two of Ting's paintings that hang side-byside at the exhibition and feature blood vessel-like curves that wind up, across and away from the canvas. "I have a very un- Western view –I see up, down, left, right ... in positive and negative," said Ting. She cites calligraphy as a key influence on the way in which she uses space.

Of her approach to creating art, Ting writes in her blog: "My path is smoothest when I am willing to fall." Every turn promises an adventure, according to Ting, who places great emphasis on discovery, resonance and inquisitiveness in her process. "I came from a culture that discouraged one from talking too much. I'd be sent to my room for asking too many questions," offered Ting.

"I finally can ask all the questions I want now, without being sent to my room," she said. "I am already in my room."