My careers in the visual arts and in the martial arts have gone hand in hand for a very long time. Both disciplines constantly influence each other and progress together within me. My artistic work is what inspired and drove me to begin learning Tai Chi several decades ago, and Tai Chi has since then increasingly inspired my artistic output. 

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The majority of my artworks deal with opposite forces, which in Tai Chi are expressed as Yin and Yang, the female and male principles. 

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As in the practice of Tai Chi, my work transcends those opposites and expresses that which is ever present, the source of those opposites and of existence itself. One method I use to achieve this is creating a series of several single pieces which together form one artwork. This way there is a definite sense of motion, juxtaposed with a clear notion of stillness. If one becomes fully emerged in these works one can feel the silence underlaying the two fundamental life forces. 

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One particularly striking image is the Chen Tai Chi symbol. The two forces of Yin and Yang spiral out of an empty void at the center of the symbol. I began modifying this symbol by cutting out the center, which is usually white. If cutting the center out isn’t possible due to the limitations of a specific medium I make the center appear nonexistent by filling it in with the same color that I use as a backdrop for the symbol. 

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In addition to working with various versions of the Chen Tai Chi symbol, I often oppose human structure with natural entropy. Examples of this include buildings, doors, or chessboards contrasting the open sky, moonlike spheres, or eggs, which all have a symbolic value.

 

I was featured in Four Seas, directed by You Jun of CCTV, which was broadcast on national television in mainland China.

Additional works can be viewed @s_berit_s

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