CANADIAN AUTUMN SONATA

Chen was born into a prominent family of warlords during a turbulent era of transition between the old world and the new. Though his parents' marriage was once a front-page sensation, the awakening of feminist consciousness was already beginning to stir. Shortly after Chen’s birth, his mother resolutely demanded a divorce, fundamentally severing ties with the lifestyle her family had maintained for generations. His father eventually remarried, and his stepmother gave birth to four younger brothers.

Ultimately, personal destiny could not escape the torrent of the times. When the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) broke out, Chen’s father—a general who had risked his life for the nation during the War of Resistance—became a target. Branded a "Rightist" and plunged into a quagmire of confusion and despair, the father saw his family's world upended overnight by the insults and "struggle sessions" of the masses.

From a young age, Chen possessed an extraordinary talent for the arts. However, under the prejudices of the old era, art was dismissed as mere "busking," unworthy of refined society; serving the state was considered the only honorable path. Chen was forced to bury his artistic longings deep within. Under the revolutionary slogan "Labor is Glory," he was sent to the Xinjiang oil fields. Though stationed in the vast desert, he spent his time immersed in the works of Nietzsche and Balzac, studying Chinese and Western art history and National Geographic, developing a particular admiration for the Bauhaus style. Due to his exceptional capability, he was eventually commissioned by his superiors to establish a film photography center for the enterprise. During this period, Chen mastered various types of photographic equipment and began extensively collecting cutting-edge audio magazines and high-end gear.

With the advent of the Reform and Opening-up in 1978, Chen moved from the west to the north and then to the south, having resided in cities such as Xinjiang, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Along the way, he experienced two marriages and fathered two sons. Now in his seventies, having ensured the well-being of his family and good friends, Chen has finally entered a season of life that belongs to him. He has returned to his childhood passions, finding deep reconciliation with his past and himself through the conceptualisation, creation, and refinement of his artwork—embarking, at last, on a journey of healing for the body and soul.

Anna V. Dyrset  

Anna (b. 1956, Iceland) received her formal training in drawing and visual arts in Iceland and Denmark. A multifaceted creator, she has authored and illustrated numerous children’s books published in Iceland, while also dedicating over two decades to her tenure at the Reykjavík City Library.

Drawing from her extensive journeys across the Icelandic wilderness, Anna’s photography captures the raw essence of nature and those fleeting moments that command the observer's eye. Anna's lens seeks the pulse of the Icelandic landscape, documenting the profound beauty of nature and the serendipitous details of the wild.