This research is my observation of how contemporary 'Landscape-like' painting in Taiwan is, and how it has been shaped by its insider/outsider political status. I will be looking at how artists shape the field of painting in Taiwan and also how they and myself are shaped by the history of society, national/ local culture and are determined by the current ideology of consumption, which is important as it affects aesthetic judgement.

I use 'Landscape-like' instead of just Landscape painting because I feel the need to emphasize the peculiar starting point for Taiwan's painting in this subject which influences me throughout my practice. The 'like' here (I hope) indicates a sense of otherness that visualizes the gap between classical western landscape painting categories, Taiwan's circumstance and the notion of Shan-Shui when referring to landscape thus opening up discussion in the possibilities of re-imagination, re-appropriation and curiosity of the ambivalent visual languages in its context. Moreover, it is literally pointing out the forever failure of painting as representation of objects. A painting with a landscape is always about other things.