Tag: Pony Ma

Thinkspace is excited to welcome back Brooklyn-based Taiwanese painter PONY MA for his second solo exhibition ‘Take the Bitter with the Sweet’ with our gallery, where we will showcase 11 new acrylic on panel paintings.

“Last year brought some of the biggest challenges of my life. I faced constant financial uncertainty, suffered an elbow injury that required surgery followed by nine months of rehabilitation, and made the difficult decision to move away from a city I had called home for 19 years. Every decision and every obstacle drained my energy, and there were moments when I wanted to give up. During that dark time, the love and support of my family, along with the smile of my newborn son, became the reasons I kept moving forward. Little by little, that support began to outweigh the negativity and transform into motivation. Working on my paintings has become a safe place where I could shut out the noise, close the door on reality and escape to the haven I’ve created in my studio.

For this exhibition, I am not painting my struggles or giving a voice to my hardships. Instead, I invite you into my favorite place, where we can experience moments of peace and lightheartedness together, free from the weight of everyday challenges. Sometimes, taking the bitter with the sweet allows us to discover beauty even in life’s most difficult times.”

Our interview with Pony shares which previous painting he would like to paint a mural of and where, explores how his cultural background has influenced his artistic style, and reveals the weirdest and most unexpected inspiration he’s ever drawn from for a painting.

• What do you hope viewers take away from experiencing your art?

This exhibition is an invitation for viewers to come into my favorite place: a safe haven I created to keep myself sane and escape from reality. I hope to offer moments of peace and lightheartedness, where viewers can briefly set aside the weight of everyday challenges and simply exist in a space of comfort, imagination, and joy.

• Do you have any rituals or habits that help you get into the creative mindset before painting?

Picking the right songs to play before I paint is part of my creative ritual. It usually depends on my mood or even the weather that day. Sometimes, choosing the perfect playlist can take forever. Once I find the music, I look at the painting and visualize the progress I want to make. It helps me set my goal for the day.

• What challenges have you faced as an artist, and how have they influenced your artistic development?

With every painting I create, there’s always something that challenges me. It could be an object I’ve never painted before or an intricate detail that pushes me outside my comfort zone. I always find myself wondering if I can achieve the result I envision.

That fear and self-doubt are always the scariest part of the painting process. Sometimes, the fear of ruining the piece is enough to make me avoid working on it altogether. When that happens, I have to give myself a little pep talk and remind myself of the feeling of accomplishment I’ve had after finishing previous paintings.

Over the years, I’ve learned to trust myself more and to be patient, and that’s part of what makes creating art so rewarding.

• How has your cultural background influenced your artistic style?

I do incorporate Asian elements into my work from time to time. I find it both interesting and important to share where I’m from and my Taiwanese cultural background with viewers. For example, in this exhibition, I created a series of paintings inspired by the seven deadly sins and incorporated Chinese characters to represent each sin.

I love adding these kinds of subtle details because they often catch viewers off guard. It’s a fun way to invite people to look a little closer and discover something unexpected while learning a bit about Taiwanese culture at the same time.

• Are there any particular techniques or mediums you enjoy experimenting with in your work?

I’m at a very comfortable stage of working with acrylic, so my techniques haven’t changed much over the years. However, after settling into a new area last summer, I experimented with a homemade palette paper technique I discovered on social media and I completely fell in love with it. It was truly a game changer, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to using traditional palette paper again.

It’s a very simple technique: place a parchment paper over a damp kitchen cloth and use that parchment paper as your regular palette paper. The moisture from the cloth helps keep the acrylic paint workable for much longer, significantly slowing down the drying process. 

• What’s the weirdest or most unexpected inspiration you’ve ever drawn from for a painting?

Swim bladder! I did a series of paintings inspired by the Manchu Han Imperial Feast during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). Each course included eight delicacies, and I was inspired by the Sea Bazhen, or “The Eight Sea Delicacies.” The dishes included:
1. Edible bird’s nest 
2. Shark fin 
3. Sea cucumber 
4. Swim bladder 
5. Chinese sturgeon 
6. Haliotis 
7. Seal 
8. Chinese giant salamander

• If you a huge mural of one of your paintings to cover an entire building, which one would it be and where would you want it displayed?

Hmm, that’s a tough question. I’d have to pick ‘Metalizer’ because it’s the piece that really set the direction for my future work. 

As for the location, I’d love to see it painted on one of the apartment buildings in Wei-Wu-Ying Street Art Village in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. When I visited for the first time, I was genuinely amazed by the murals there and moved by how street art has evolved in Taiwan. Having one of my own works become part of that landscape would be incredibly meaningful.

• If your paintings could interact with viewers in a virtual reality experience, what would that interaction be like?

I’d hide hidden messages, symbols, and surprises throughout the experience for viewers to discover. It would be similar to how I approach my paintings: each piece is a riddle waiting to be unraveled. Every viewer brings their own memories, emotions, and experiences, which interact with the symbols in my work to create a meaning that is uniquely their own.