Born in 1963 in Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China, Luo Mingjun studied fine arts at the Academy of Fine Arts of Hunan Normal University from 1979 to 1983, specializing in oil painting. In the same institution, she worked as an assistant drawing teacher, earning the prestigious Hunan Province Award in 1984. The following year, she co-founded the “Group 0 Art”, a collective of avant-garde artists that contributed to the Chinese art scene.

The year 1987 marks a crucial turning point in her life when she marries a Swiss citizen and subsequently settles in Bienne. This significant change generated a combination of diverse and contrasting emotions. On one hand, it was painful due to the loss of her Chinese nationality while acquiring Swiss citizenship. On the other hand, such a situation produced a keen curiosity to explore and a desire to assimilate a new environment with other customs. This process of adaptation transformed into an internal challenge, leading Mingjun to reflect on her own identity and her Chinese cultural heritage. However, according to the artist herself, despite her earnest efforts to absorb and assimilate the Western culture, she ultimately defined herself as a “critical outsider" of both.

This journey of rediscovery began with the abandonment of oil painting on canvas in 1999s, opting, at that moment, for Chinese ink and paper, yet reinventing it. But how did Luo Mingjun find herself? Thanks to the development of a unique painting technique, 12 years after, inspired by Chinese ink - which she rediscovered in the 2007s - but functioning oppositely. Therefore, instead of black ink on white paper, the artist employs white paint on untouched canvas, preserving the fundamental elements of the first technique - fluidity and support as an essential part of the composition. It is a harmonious fusion of light and shadow, yin and yang.

This prowess is reflected in the showcased artworks, Nuage (2019) and Flow to the Sea (2021). Both are characterized by delicate strokes of diluted white on vast contrasting canvases. The consciously and skilfully left empty space prompts the observer to contemplate the artwork, to explore it through their own imagination. Luo Mingjun's art evokes emotions, inviting us to feel the energy of the two elements that she paints, air and water.

An extension of these representations is exhibited by other mediums and supports, demonstrating the artist’s talent in lithography, exemplified by It’s for you (2016), as well as drawing techniques, as seen in The sea has smoothed down (2021). Both artworks echo the subjects portrayed in the oil paintings, and yet, each technique provides unique perspectives and sensations. Particularly interesting is the contrast between the three small pencil illustrations depicting a distant view of a calm sea, and the large triptych that instead shows a close-up of tumultuous waves.

We also have the opportunity to observe a charcoal composition, a medium that Mingjun began using only in recent years, discovering that it enables her to follow her instinct with greater naturalness. Gratter la nuit (2018) shows the artist’s exploration of this technique, presenting a new artistic approach, in which the treatment of light is even more distinctive.

Undeniably, a sense of melancholy is perceptible in Luo Mingjun's work, deftly conveyed through painterly and lighting effects. However, attributing this mood to sadness would be incorrect, as her memories are also full of joy, both past and present.

Although it was initially a tough challenge to rediscover herself and her artistic language in this occidental reality, Mingjun succeeded in discovering and making her own neutral space, which she found in her atelier, where there is the chance to exchange and reflect, a third country.

1963年出生于中国四川南充的罗明君，在1979年到1983年间于湖南师范大学艺术学院学习油画专业。她作为绘画助教老师留校任教，并于1984年获得了湖南省的荣誉奖项。在之后的一年，她作为创始人之一建立了“0”艺术集团。那里聚集了为中国艺术场景作出贡献的新潮艺术家们。

1987年是她人生的重要转折点。那一年她与一位瑞士人结婚并定居在比尔。多样且对比强烈的情感就在这剧烈的变化中产生。一方面，痛苦源自于得到瑞士身份意味着失去中国国籍。另一方面，对探索新环境的强烈好奇心以及融入不同习俗的新环境的愿望，也在这样的状况中诞生。这种适应的过程转变为一种内在的挑战，而这让罗明君开始反思她自己的身份与她所继承的中国文化。然而，按照艺术家自己的话来说，无论她如何努力去吸收和融入西方文化，她最终还是将自己定位为两种文化的“外部角度的观察者”。

重新探索的旅途始于1999年对布面油画的放弃，以及对中国水墨与纸的重新发现。但是罗明君是如何找到自己的呢？受中国水墨绘画技法的启发，她在2007年开始了新的与中国绘画运作方式相反的油画绘画方式。不同于将黑色墨水用于白色的纸上，她将白色的颜料运用在原色画布上，这保留了水墨技法的重要元素 ---- 流动性和画布是这个整体不可或缺的部分。这就是光与影，阴和阳的和谐融合。

这种技法体现在了我们所展示的作品云（2019）和流向大海 (2021）之中。两幅画都以在大幅对比度强烈的画布上，使用稀释后白颜料的细腻笔触为特点。这种有意识并充满技巧的留白促使观众深入思考，通过他们自己的想象去对画作进行探索。罗明君的作品能引发情感上的共鸣，带领我们去感受在她画作中空气与水这两种元素的能量。

这些表现形式的延伸也展现在其他的媒介和材质上。献给你 （2016）体现了艺术家在石版画上的才华，而平静的海（2021）则体现了艺术家在绘画方面的卓越技巧。两幅作品都与油画中所描绘的主体产生回响，但是不同技巧的运用产生了独特的视觉与感受。尤其吸引人的是两幅画之间的对比。三幅小型的铅笔画描绘了一片平静海面的远景，而巨大的三联画则从近处展现了惊涛骇浪。

我们有机会观看这两幅分别由铅笔和炭笔绘制而成的作品。明君最近几年才开始使用这种媒介，她发现炭笔能够让她更自然地跟随她内心的直觉。划破夜空（2018）展示了艺术家对这种媒介的探索，展示了一种新的，能够更好突出光的处理技法。

无可否认，在罗明君的作品中，通过过绘画与光效的巧妙传达，我们能感知到一种忧郁的气息。然而，将这种情绪归于悲伤是不正确的，因为无论在过去还是现在，她的记忆都是充满快乐的。虽然在最开始，在西方现实世界中重新发现她自己与她的艺术语言是一个艰巨的挑战，罗明君成功发现并且创造了她自己的中立空间。而这个建立在她工作室中的空间，是能够让她有机会去进行交流与反思的地方，一个第三空间。