An artist who embraces imperfection and impermanence
This week we welcome Roger Hsia, a New York–based painter whose work explores the psychological terrain of memory, connection and aftermath. Through layered compositions that shift between abstraction and figuration, he investigates the emotional residue of human relationships.
Hsia’s paintings and assemblages draw on a diverse range of influences, from Eastern philosophy to gestural abstraction, incorporating calligraphic brushwork, collage, and sculptural applications of paint. Hsia’s practice is rooted in emotional honesty and a refined visual language that reflects the complexity of contemporary identity.
“I make paintings that live at the edge of contradiction, between figuration and abstraction, structure and entropy, intention and chance. At the center of my practice is the materiality of paint itself. I sculpt with paint, pushing it beyond the surface into wrinkles, tears, and protrusions that catch light and shift with time. These forms embrace imperfection and impermanence, guided by the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi.”
“I want my works to feel alive, part painting and part sculpture, both monumental and fleeting. They are at once meditations and improvisations, alive with the immediacy of calligraphy or jazz, yet grounded in the apparent solidity of built form. My visual language draws as much from art history and museum walls as from graffiti, collage, film and music. I am as much a fan as I am a maker, blending what moves me into a language of my own.”
