Passport to Taiwan 2012 - Contemporary Art Section

My Brave New World + Mercy to the Earth

   .

Sunday May 13, 2012     12:00pm-5:00pm

Union Square North, New York City

The common goal of these immigrant artists is to express themselves in this new land, to encourage artistic expression in general, and to provide a venue for exhibition in New York’s crowded art scene. This demonstration shows the cross-disciplinary ability of contemporary Taiwanese artists to interact with audiences, either by use of the body as a tool to express a female perspective on cultural confusion, or the hot topic of the environment, consumer waste, recycling, and climate change. Both themes are ambitious and allow great room for individual interpretation. 

Three female Taiwanese artists, Hu Nung Hsin, Wen Wen Lin and Jade Chiu use mixed media installation and interactive performance;  the sisters Hsiao-ting and Hsiao-Wei Hsieh use modern dance; thus these five artists announce the establishment of Global Taiwanese Women Artist Association. Conveying the Mercy to the Earth message, Chin Chih Yang employs 30,000 aluminum cans in his action, and Lin Shih Pao salutes invention and conflict to urge recycling of 20,000 telephones, the better to reconsider the relationship between the environment and human beings.

My Brave New World:

by TWArtists: A Global Taiwanese Women Artists Association

·         Hu Nung Hsin 胡農欣

·         Wen Wen Lin 林文文

·         Jade Chiu 丘琬琳

·         Hsiao-Wei Hsieh & Hsiao-Ting Hsieh 謝筱瑋, 謝筱婷  with cellist  Nan-Cheng Chen陳南呈

Mercy to the Earth

·         Chin Chih Yang楊金池

·         Lin Shih Pao林世寶

 My Brave New World:

by TWArtists: A Global Taiwanese Women Artists Association

Artists

Hu Nung Hsin 胡農欣

Sushi ,     Performance

This ongoing project represents Hu’ cultural confusion and her difficulty establishing an identity as an Asian female immigrant artist. Food is an important expression of the culture, so she chose sushi, an Asian food, as her subject. This installation mimics the fake food models that are used in restaurants to attract potential customers and to arouse imagination and illusions about the real food. In its texture and form, raw fish resembles human bodies. The artist transformed human bodies into objects resembling fake plastic food. The viewers’ confusion between reality and illusion resembles the way she is perceived by others in this foreign society

Nung-Hsin Hu was born 1981 in Taiwan. In 2006 she moved to New York to pursue her MFA in Fine Arts at Long Island University. Hu woks in sculpture, installation, video, and performance. She has exhibited in the U.S. and abroad. She received the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning’s Van Lier Fellowship, Taipei Artist Village’s Boundary-Break-Through Project Grant, the NYFA-Mentoring Program for Immigrant Artists and fellowships from the I-Park residency, CT, the Casa das Caldeiras residency in São Paulo, Brazil, as well as the Taipei Artist Village residency in Taipei, Taiwan.

Performers:

Kashimi Asai

Nung-Hsin Hu

 Lydia Wei

Make up artist:

Tsuyoshi Sekimoto

Wen Wen Lin 林文文

My Brave New World , Interactive performance

Modern Women Series, installation and performance

My Brave New World  is art in action. It engages viewers in a realm of dis-familiarity, and possibly even a discomfort zone. Committed to art as a mean of social interaction, Lin is neutral and non-directorial as facilitator/joker. She sets up the installation and assists viewers to decode and interact with it, but does not comment upon or intervene in the content of the performance.

This is a creative process for viewers, since they control the outcome and interpretation of this piece.  A video recording of the process will be made into a film: My Brave New World: Faces of Change.

Lady Joker Performer: Angel Yeh 

Modern Women Series is a project exploring seven phases of a woman's relationship with her body, image, and identity.

·         Phase One,  the Elephant Woman (about body hatred: and plastic surgery)

·         Phase Two: the Expansive Woman (about emotional dependence: over-eating and anorexia)

·         Phase Three: Dance of the Caged Woman (about psychiatric drugs)

·         Phase Four: Holes in The Sky (about awakening)

·         Phase Five: Occupy the Body, and the Goddess Nu Guo (about drawing strength from the original mother)

·         Phase Six: Rainbow Bones, When God Was a Woman (about reclaiming creativity)

·         Phase Seven: I Bleed Therefore I Am (Acceptance and Affirmation)

Wen Wen Lin  was trained as an abstract painter by one of the legendary Abstract Expressionist painters, Larry Poons, and is also an avid blogger, poet, film maker and photographer.  Lin’s embrace of the "a whole being" has led to a blurring of disciplinary boundaries in her work..

Lin also writes about those artists who act to subvert totalitarian regimes and fight against social.   Her most recent writing is about artist dissident: Ai Wei Wei: "The Dance of Sunflower Seeds", which can be viewed on her blog: Artivists: Art in Action

In July 2010, Lin founded TWArtists: A Global Taiwanese Women Artists Association, along with founding consultant Kun Shan Huang. https://www.facebook.com/TwArtistsAGlobalTaiwaneseWomenArtistsAssociation

 

Jade Chiu 丘琬琳

Fusion Lovers and Fused Babes， Manikin installations and performance

Jade Chiu has always aspired to start her own label based on a fusion of Eastern culture and Western style.  Inspired by the zodiac theme, a fusion of conceptual eastern context in western beauty.  Throughout her zodiac theme designs, each piece expresses a unique motif, Materials such as fur, skin, and metal create an alchemy of metamorphosis that expresses human qualities such as elegance humor, punk chic and unique style of individualism. Made in N.Y.C., Chiu's Fusion Lovers and Fused Babes is edgy and provocative, original aesthetic ideas fusing exquisite taste and inspired by the zodiac signs. Fusion Lovers is a sensual leather accessories line (belts/ bracelets/ headpieces) designed around the various zodiac animals, each piece possessed of its own distinct personality. Fused Babes is a pop, surreal jewelry line (rings, necklaces, earrings) based on the 12 signs of the zodiac. Each piece of jewelry enhances your facial features and expression.

Jade Chiu is a Taiwanese born accessory and jewelry designer currently based in New York. 
After graduating from Parsons, Chiu worked with labels such as Anna Sui, L.A.M.B., and DVF, later on contributing as accessory designer at Babyphat. 

Hsiao-Wei Hsieh & Hsiao-Ting Hsieh 謝筱瑋，謝筱婷

Double Helix (Stage dance)

Choreographers: Hsiao-Wei Hsieh & Hsiao-Ting Hsieh
Dancers: Hsiao-Wei & Hsiao-Ting Hsieh
Cellist: Nan-Cheng Chen

Symbolic Surroundings (Installation Area improvisational dance)
Choreographers: Hsiao-Wei Hsieh & Hsiao-Ting Hsieh
Dacners: Lorenzo Pagano
Cherri Nelle Thompson
Yuriko Hiroura
Zachary Alexander
Lindsay Poulis
Hsiao-Wei Hsieh
Hsiao-Ting Hsieh

Hsiao-Wei Hsieh and Hsiao-Ting Hsieh are dancers and choreographers from Taiwan, currently working in New York City. They studied Medical Technology and Veterinary Medicine before they discovered a new life in dance. They both studied at LABAN, UK from 2007 to 2008 and graduated from Martha Graham School, U.S.A in 2011. In 2008, they were invited to present their piece titled “Goldberg Fantasia” at the Bonnie Bird Theatre in London. They have performed and presented their choreography widely in New York, including at New Steps Series, 60X60 Dance, EFSD Show, Graham II Spring Season 2011, WAXworks, New York Experience 2012, and NYC 10 Performance.

Nan-Cheng Chen陳南呈, cellist

A native of Taiwan, Nan-Cheng received his Bachelor of Music Degree in 2010 from The Juilliard School and is currently at the same school pursuing his Master of Music Degree, studying with Joel Krosnick. Chen is the executive director of the New Asia Chamber Music Society (NACMS), and a member of Trio 212.  Chen’s recent  engagements include leading NACMS to perform at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall,

Special thanks to Yung Yung Tsuai for dance advisory

Mercy to the Earth

Artists

Chin Chih Yang楊金池

Kill Me or Change, interactive performance art installation

   

Kill Me or Change highlights the impact of personal consumption on the environment and the importance of recycling.

Kill Me or Change, an interactive performance art piece, will take place on July 28 and 29 at the Queens Museum of Art, when 30,000 aluminum beverage cans —the number the average person consumes in a lifetime—will be dropped on the artist’s head, burying him under a mountain of shiny, colorful, and all too common aluminum waste. As a preview, on May 13 the artist will install thousands of cans; placed inside a netting, they will define a variegated metallic topography and Passport to Taiwan visitors  may “adopt” cans that will be used  in the performance by signing them or writing comments on them.

Environmentalism is a global issue, as climate change, affects the entire population of Earth. By not taking action against the destruction of the Earth’s environment and atmosphere, we are pulling on the apocalyptic cord that sends metallic rain crashing to the planet’s surface, like bullets bearing our individual signatures. Not to progress to a greater accord with the living Earth exposes us to the danger that humanity itself may become a waste product.

Chin Chih Yang was born in Taiwan, and has resided for many years in New York City. He received a BFA from Parsons and an MS from Pratt Institute. He has been a recipient of the Urban Artist Initiative Fellowship, a grant from Franklin Furnace, a fellowship from the New York State Council for the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts, a public art project commission from Queens Council on the Arts/DOT, and a gold medal from the Creativity Annual Awards for creative achievement in photography.

Lin Shih Pao林世寶

Paying tribute to invention and contradiction

 20000 telephones assembled into a vehicle

Lin Shih Pao recycles contemporary high level trash – namely telephones - to create a silent paean to environmental protection.  Although he is talking about environmental protection, Lin salutes the great inventors for their creativeness in bringing humans ever-higher standards of living.  Technological development is vital to keeping the country competitive,  but significantly impacts society by imposing costs in medical care, ecological degradation, and energy scarcity.

Lin’s work always involves audience participation. Lin likes to be face to face with the crowd, and typically collects cheap products to tell a story and demonstrate the links between human beings. The artist thus addresses environmental issues, and hopes to move us to make the earth more habitable..

  Lin Shih Pao lives and works in New York and Japan. He was born in Taiwan, studied in Japan, and completed graduate school at New York University. Lin’s work always reflects the most profound concepts of Asian philosophy, namely a deep sympathy for human beings and an appreciation of the value of the union of humans and nature. His installations are urgently concerned with communication, and gather thousands of participants to form a huge conceptual sculpture. Therefore, the participants lend a democratic character to his work. In 2006, he collected one hundred thousand pacifiers to form a Christmas tree piece. In 2005, he was invited to make a piece called "Gate of Peace" for the world's fair in Tokyo, for which he collected one million pens. Lin’s work has been collected by many museums, corporations, and exhibited in many international museums.

木心的傳奇 The Legacy of Mu Xin

Mu Xin
心的傳奇 The Legacy of Mu Xin

Luchia Meihua Lee                    

Screening & Panel Discussion on the Life Legacy of Mu Xin

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-legacy-of-Mu-Xin--Screening-and-panel-discussion.html?soid=1101447332660&aid=d9zzcffmAJ4

木心(1927-2011)， 一位堅毅的藝術創作者，真正的世界級藝術家。於去(2011)年12月21日過世了。木心被認為是二十世紀非常原創與極為重要的藝術家之一，然而尚有很多數的民眾不知道他。木心最大的仰慕者與支持者-知名藝術家與評論人陳丹青，認為木心是他的教師也是精神導師。他們認識了25年也在同一年代住在紐約市皇后區。而曾獲三次奧斯卡紀錄影片提名的導演Francisco Bello 與 Tim Sternberg在2010年12月曾在2010年間前往中國數次訪問木心，製作了記錄片 「木心：來自地下的筆記」（Notes from the Underground），這一個訪問見證了最後期的木心。
木心的傳奇一生將銜接了中國文革前到今日文藝橋樑。而他的藝術活躍的在東西方與古典及現代之間對話。他1927年出生於浙江烏鎮世家，本名孫璞，在14歲時發現一位遠親也是知名詩人矛盾廢棄的書房中發現文藝寶庫，他開始系統性的閱讀西洋的哲學史詩，加上從小上私塾得以深入習得中國古經典。之後在上海美院就讀。在參與一個抗爭活動中被學校退學，之後1946逃避國民政府而到臺灣， 1949回到共產黨的新中國，陷入足以讓他憂鬱致死的痛裂處境，然這種處於晦暗悲觀環境的遭遇，卻也喚起他內心的頑強的人文記憶，並讓他耽於創作中解脫困頓。他說：「文學是我的信仰，是這信仰使我渡過劫難。」
他在1971到72年間被囚禁在一個地下滿是髒水的廢棄防空壕中，18個月不見天日的地下囚牢日子，他寫下「獄中日記」（the prison notes），其中文字內容其實是他自己與西方先知哲學家者的對話，如福樓拜，尼采，孔夫子等。他用的是地下的髒水寫在氾黃的自白書紙上，留下的是66篇650,000個的密密麻麻的字，也因此讓他依靠這精神糧食而存活下來，之後他將這個自白書日記偷偷的縫在衣角藏著帶出牢獄。然而文化大革命在1976年的結束並沒有帶給他自由，1978到1979年他遭到軟禁，在煎熬的日子中他白天勞動，而晚間他轉化成為自由的靈魂，他繪製了33幅動人心弦的山水畫。現在這批作品是耶魯大學博物館的典藏品。
在1982年間，他逃離開了故鄉到了紐約。以往的沉痛記憶讓他小心翼翼的生活著，然這自由的空氣精神也轉印到一幅幅完美的傑作。2002到2003年間，他創作了兩組60與40幅微型的驚人袖珍巨作。有些僅有1-2英寸高，需藉助放大鏡方可辨識，但是是如此的完整而非凡。另外在此時段他也同時大量的寫作。
而事實上，木心的第一篇文章早在1966年在台灣聯合副刊發表，1984年台灣《聯合文學》創刊號為木心特設「散文展覽」專號，題名《木心，一個文學的魯濱遜》，木心在文壇甫一出现，即以獨有不俗的風格，引起廣大讀著强烈注目。

美國的頂尖藝術史學術界在2000年，早已注意到這一位獨特的孤寂藝術精英。他的部分散文與小說被翻譯成英語，成為美國大學文學史課程範本讀物，並作為惟一的中國作家，與福克纳、海明威作品编在同一教材中；在哈佛與耶魯這些名校主辦的《文學無國界》（Words Without Boarder）網站，木心擁有眾多忠實讀者。在2002年, 76歲的他有了人生第一次的展覽，展出他的繪畫與獄中日記，展覽由耶魯大學規劃連同芝加哥大學策劃，並巡廻展出。

而非常諷刺的，在木心一生於瀕死邊緣追逐藝術創作的尊嚴與典範，2006年在他人生的尾聲，在木心近80的年紀時，被家鄉的地方當局以英雄之姿並認定是"國寶"邀請返鄉定居，他持續在他家鄉寫作與畫畫一直到2011年12月辭世為止。現在21世紀中國的藝文圈子也逐步的在瞭解他。在他的家鄉將會建立木心美術館。陳丹青（Chen Danqing）將會擔任館長。木心的著作在中國也逐漸向公眾發表了，集結了十三篇短文的英文版"An Empty Room" 由Toming  Jun Liu翻譯,新方向出版社王久安（Joanne Wang）女士代理2011年在美國出版。
木心是一個典型的藝術智識分子，精通文學，繪畫，音樂，歷史，詩詞等。他優遊在莎士比亞，福樓拜，尼采，達文西，詩經，楚辭，唐宋詩詞，范寬郭熙的山水間。我們無法用單一的藝術家身分來認定他。從1984年起，台灣皇冠，圓神、遠流等出版社陸續出版了木心作品，包括：散文集《瓊美卡隨想錄》1986、《散文一集》1983、《即興判断》1988、《素履之往》1994、《馬拉格計劃》1999、《鱼麗之宴》1999、《同情中断錄》1999；诗集《西班牙三棵樹》1988、《巴瓏》1988、《我纷纷的情欲》1998、《會吾中》1998；小说集《温莎墓園日記》1988。
他的畫作優雅，詠歎，空靈，朦朧，憂鬱，平滑而又充滿肌理，就是自然萬物宇宙共同存在的視覺感受。他的文學古典又現代，溫柔抒情而張力充滿情感與生活的痕跡。 他的創作感動了我們所有的人。 
在1984年木心答臺灣《联合文学》編者問說：「一切崩潰殆盡的時候，我對自己說："在绝望中求永生" 。」 相較于木心的前半年歲在中國，現在中國的創作環境顯得是如此朝向一種開放的能量，但是似乎又必需戰戰兢兢的在不涉及敏感政治議題下存活。我們藝術圈能對中國自由創作有所期待嗎？或是去等待另一位受到壓抑的瘋狂人文藝術家的出現。 

Chinese painter, writer, and intellectual Mu Xin, who recently passed away at 84, is considered by experts to be one of the most original, important yet largely unknown artists of the last century. Among his greatest admirers and supporters is famed Chinese intellectual and painter Chen Danqing, who regards Mu Xin as his teacher and mentor. They met 25 years ago when they were both living in Queens, NY.

OSCAR� and Emmy Nominated filmmakers Francisco Bello and Tim Sternberg traveled to China in December 2010 to interview Mu Xin for their film "MU XIN: NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND." This interview is the last living testament of Mu Xin on camera.

Mu Xin's life bridged pre-revolutionary China to the present day, and his art remains a vibrant dialogue between East and West, the classical and the contemporary. He was born Sun Pu in 1927, to an aristocratic family in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. Like many intellectuals of the late 1940's he rallied to Mao Zedong's vision for a new China, and gradually became disenchanted. Working by day as an industrial designer and teacher, he spent his private hours painting, and writing scores of novels, plays and poems - in secret. His works had no explicit political content, so he clandestinely worked with the knowledge that they may never be published or displayed.

In 1971, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, he was falsely accused and placed in a series of imprisonments for almost 2 years, starting in makeshift solitary confinement in the basement of a Shanghai air raid shelter, and later under house arrest where he was under constant surveillance. While imprisoned, he secretly used scraps of paper that were provided for his "self criticism," and risked his life to write the "Prison Notes." These 66 pieces are filled front to back with dialogues with great thinkers across Eastern and Western history, such as Flaubert, Confucius and Nietzsche. Further risking his life, Mu Xin then smuggled the "Prison Notes" out of captivity by sewing them into the lining of his work clothes. While under a later house arrest, at night he secretly painted his Landscape Paintings. These 33 miniatures blend both Eastern and Western techniques to recreate ancient Chinese landscapes, works that confront the viewer with their finely wrought views of worlds suspended in time. When Mu Xin was finally released from house arrest, he left for the United States where he lived until 2006. He lived in obscurity, steadily gaining an audience throughout the Chinese Diaspora as his books started to be published in the 1980's, at first in Taiwan then much later in mainland China.

In 2002, at the age of 76, Mu Xin was given his first major traveling exhibition "The Art of Mu Xin: Landscape Paintings and Prison Notes," organized by the Yale University Art Gallery and co-curated by Wu Hung and Alexandra Munroe. The first English language collection of his writings, "An Empty Room", translated by Toming Junliu and represented by Joanne Wang, was published by the prestigious New Directions imprint in 2011.

In an ironic coda to his exemplary life, Mu Xin returned to his hometown of Wuzhen in 2006 at the invitation of the local authorities. Once hounded almost to death for his artistic integrity, he was given a hero's welcome, now considered as a "national treasure." Mu Xin continued writing and painting up until his death in December 2010. His hometown of Wuzhen is in the process of building a museum in his honor, which has named Chen Danqing as its director.

QMA is honored to welcome Chen Danqing and Joanne Wang who will be speak about the importance of Mu Xin's work. Francisco Bello and Tim Sternberg will show excerpts from their film in progress, including scenes of Mu Xin reading his prose and poems. This distinguished panel will be moderated by Luchia Meihua Lee and introduced by QMA's Director, Tom Finkelpearl.

木心的傳奇討論會與影片放映

時間：二月十八日下午二時到五時，

地點：皇后美術館演講廳(Queens Museum of Art, Corona Park, New York)

與會人：

介紹：Tom Finkelpearl 皇后美術館館長

主持Moderator： 李美華Luchia Meihua Lee (策展人)

主講人Panelists：

·         Francisco Bello 與 Tim Sternberg- 木心記錄片”來自地下的筆記“（Notes From Underground）導演， 曾獲三次奧斯卡紀錄影片提名，將介紹記錄片並放映記錄片剪輯，牢中日記與作品圖像

·         陳丹青（Chen Danqing） –知名藝術家與評論人，介紹木心的藝術創作,生涯與歷史定位 

·         王久安（Joanna Wang）- 紐約新方向出版社 介紹木心的文學著作與欣賞

木心的傳奇

by Luchia Meihua Lee

木心(1927-2011)， 一位堅毅的藝術創作者，真正的世界級藝術家。木心1927年生，原籍浙江。上海美術專科學校畢業。1982年定居纽约。於去(2011)年12月21日過世了。木心被認為是二十世紀非常原創與極為重要的藝術家之一，然而尚有很多數的民眾不知道他。木心最大的仰慕者與支持者藝術家陳丹青，認為木心是他的教師也是精神導師。他們認識了25年也在同一時段住在皇后區。而曾獲三次奧斯卡紀錄影片提名的導演，Francisco Bello 與 Tim Sternberg在2010年12月曾前往中國數次訪問木心，製作了記錄片”木心：來自地下的筆記“（Notes From Underground），這一個訪問是見證了最後期的木心。
木心的傳奇一生將銜接了中國文革前到今日文藝橋樑。 而他的藝術具活力的在東西方與古典及現代之間對話。而事實上，木心的第一篇文章早在1966年在台灣聯合副刊發表，1984年台灣《聯合文學》創刊號為木心特設“散文展覽”專號，題名《木心，一個文學的魯濱遜》，木心在文壇甫一出现，即以獨有不俗的風格，引起廣大讀著强烈注目。
美國的頂尖藝術史學術界在2000年，早已注意到這一位獨特的孤寂藝術精英。他的部分散文與小說被翻譯成英語，成為美國大學文學史課程範本讀物，並作為惟一的中國作家，與福克纳、海明威作品编在同一教材中；在哈佛與耶魯這些名校主辦的《文學無國界》（Words Without Boarder）網站，木心擁有眾多忠實讀者。
而非常諷刺的，在木心一生於瀕死邊緣追逐藝術創作的尊嚴與典範的尾聲，在2006年，在木心近80的年紀被家鄉的地方當局以英雄之姿並認定是”國寶”邀請返鄉定居，他持續在他家鄉寫作與畫畫一直到2011年12月。現在21世紀中國的藝文圈子也逐步的瞭解他。在他的家鄉將會建立木心美術館。陳丹青（Chen Danqing） –知名藝術家與評論人也是木心長達25年的學生也是朋友將會擔任館長。他的著作在中國逐漸向公眾發表了， 集結了十三篇短文的英文版由方向出版社王久安（Joanne Wang）代理在美國出版。

在2002年, 76歲的他有了人生第一次的展覽，展出他的繪畫與獄中日記，展覽由耶魯大學規劃連同芝加哥的巫鴻與日本協會亞歷山大。夢露策劃。第一本英文的散文集結集“An Empty Room“ 由劉同明翻譯，王久安女士的新方向出版社代理於2011年出版。

皇后區美術館很榮幸歡迎陳丹青，王久安來介紹木心的作品。 導演Francisco Bello and Tim Sternberg 將會放映記錄片摘錄， 其中並有木心先生的讀誦他的散文與詩集。這一個重要的討論會由策展人李美華主持，並有館長Tom Finkelpearl介紹。

他是一個典型的藝術智識分子，精通文學，繪畫，音樂，歷史，詩詞等。他優遊在莎士比亞，福樓拜，尼采，達文西，詩經，楚辭，唐宋詩詞，范寬郭熙的山水間。我們無法用單一的藝術家身分來認定他。從1984年起，台湾皇冠，圆神、遠流等出版社陸續出版了木心作品，包括：散文集《瓊美卡隨想錄》1986、《散文一集》1983、《即興判断》1988、《素履之往》1994、《馬拉格計劃》1999、《鱼麗之宴》1999、《同情中断錄》1999；诗集《西班牙三棵樹》1988、《巴瓏》1988、《我纷纷的情欲》1998、《會吾中》1998；小说集《温莎墓園日記》1988。
他1927年出生在浙江烏鎮，本名孫璞，在他時在遠親也是知名詩人矛盾的書房，他發現了中西方的哲學史詩，從小上私塾得以深入習得中國古經典。之後在上海美院就讀。在參與抗爭的一個活動中被學校退學，之後在1946逃避國民政府而到臺灣， 1949回到共產黨的新中國，之後的遭遇也陷入足以讓他憂鬱致死的痛裂處境，然這種處於晦暗悲觀環境，卻也喚起他內心的頑強的人文記憶，並讓他找到耽於創作中。他說文学是他的信仰，是这信仰使他渡过劫难。

他在1971到72年間被囚禁在一個地下滿是髒水的廢棄防空壕中，18個月不見天日的地下囚牢日子，他寫下”囚禁中的日記“（the prison notes），其中文字內容其實是他自己與西方先知哲學家者的對話，他用的是地下的髒水寫在氾黃的自白書紙上，留下的是這66篇650,000個的密密麻麻的字，也因此讓他能依靠這精神糧食而存活下來，之後他將這個自白書日記偷偷的藏在縫住的衣角帶出來。文化大革命在1976年的結束並沒有帶給他自由，1978到1979年軟禁期間，煎熬的日子他白天的勞動，而晚間他轉化成為那自由的靈魂，他繪製了33幅動人心弦的山水畫。現在這些作品是耶魯大學博物館的典藏品。
在1982年到2006年間，逃離開了故鄉到了紐約。以往的沉痛記憶讓他小心翼翼的生活著，然這自由的空氣精神也轉印到一幅幅完美的傑作。2002到2003年間，他創作了60與40幅微型的驚人袖珍巨作。有些僅有1-2英寸高， 需藉助放大鏡方可辨識， 但是是如此的完整而非凡。另外也同時大量的寫作與出版。
他的畫作優雅，詠歎， 空靈，朦朧，憂鬱，平滑而又充滿肌理，就是自然萬物宇宙共同存在的視覺感受。他的文學古典又現代，溫柔抒情而張力充滿情感與生活的痕跡。 他的創作感動了我們所有的人。 
在1984年木心答臺灣《联合文学》編者問說：「一切崩潰殆盡的時候，我對自己說：“在绝望中求永生” 。」 相較于木心的前半年歲在中國，現在中國的創作環境顯得是如此朝向一種開放的能量，但是似乎又必需戰戰兢兢的在不涉及敏感政治議題下存活。我們藝術圈能對中國自由創作有所期待嗎？或是去等待另一位受到壓抑的瘋狂人文藝術家的出現。