Hello! I’m a Chinese-American artist and musician with synesthesia. I like playing woodwind instruments and cutting paper into interesting shapes. If you love music, astronomy, oceanography, or anything blue, I hope something of mine will resonate with your soul.
I currently play clarinet in the Virginia Army National Guard’s 29th Infantry Division Band. Prior, I played in James Madison University’s Wind Symphony. Nearly all of my artwork includes elements of contemporary concert band music. If you’re not a “band geek,” please do consider checking out this niche genre of music. In each artwork description is listed the composers who inspired the piece.
I started papercutting at age 12 when my dad signed me up for a Chinese traditional arts class, but the only thing I produced was an ugly chicken that Dad framed and hung in the bathroom. I didn’t pick it up again until high school, when I found inspiration in concert band music. Papercutting became a cultural bridge between my Chinese heritage and the American-ness of the wind band genre I love so much.
Credit for timelapse: Michael Tang
ARTIST STATEMENT
I find inspiration in the seas and skies, the beauty of music, and our desire to see meaning and connection in all things.
Connectedness is at the heart of my papercuttings, both in concept and medium. Paper is inherently cohesive. On it, I weave musical, scientific, and historical themes into intricate designs before carefully hand-cutting them from a single sheet, using connectedness to maintain structural integrity. The result is delicate and lacelike.
With blueness—the color of infinity—I want to draw focus toward all that is intangible, like Plato’s perfect circle. In Cratylus, Plato writes: “Perceived circles or lines are not exactly circular or straight, and true circles and lines could never be detected since by definition they are sets of infinitely small points. But if the perfect ones were not real, how could they direct the manufacturer?”
The realm of perfect geometry is also where I believe arises all art, music, and human ingenuity. And I want to celebrate our striving for the unreachable. It is wonderful to aspire toward knowledge, beauty, and the sublime. I hope my art is an invitation to reach beyond the horizon, through a sea of stars and music notes, and connect with something greater than ourselves.
TRUE BLUE TREBLE
The handle TRUEBLUETREBLE comes from my Chinese name, 唐竟藍, given at birth by my uncannily prophetic grandfather.
唐 (táng) is my family name.
My first name, 藍 (lán “blue”), is spelled atypically. The more popular girls’ spelling is 兰 (lán “orchid blue”), while 藍 refers to the actual color “blue.”
My middle name 竟 (jìng) is comprised of 音 (yīn “music note”) and 儿 (er “child”). The full character means “actually,” “eventually,” or “wholly,” which makes me 唐竟藍 — a child of music, and the truest blue.
FOLLOW ME
INSTAGRAM: @truebluetreble
FACEBOOK: @truebluetrebles
BLUE SKY: @truebluetreble
YOUTUBE: @truebluetreble
TUMBLR: @truebluetreble
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