This project began on April 22, 2017, and ended on April 21, 2018. For one year, I painted one small circular painting every day. After the first year, the project developed into new branches, and the Moon Gate series continues today.
Many years ago, I visited the classical gardens of Suzhou, China. Built hundreds of years ago, these gardens were designed as a sequence of carefully composed spaces. As visitors move through them, each doorway, window, path, and wall reveals a new scene.
Everything in the gardens is beautiful and delicate, but what I remember most are the moon gates. These circular openings in the garden walls serve as passageways, allow air to flow through the space, and frame selected views of the landscape. Looking through one moon gate after another created a quiet rhythm, with each opening revealing another peaceful garden scene.
In this series, I bring together that quiet atmosphere and the beauty of the Canadian landscape. Through the circular format, I hope to recreate something of my experience in the Suzhou gardens: the feeling of looking through a moon gate and discovering a carefully framed view beyond it.
Each painting carries a red stamp in the upper-right corner. The Chinese character 月 means “moon,” and 洞 means “opening” or “hole.” Together, 月洞 is a traditional Chinese name for a circular garden gate. Its name refers to the full moon, which is associated with happiness, completeness, and good wishes.
