Cultivation: The Art of Zhao Hai Tien

Zhao Hai Tien’s diverse practice spans airbrush, acrylic, calligraphy, murals, and oil painting. Informed by decades of Buddhist, Taoist, and qigong study, her work evolved from contemplative forms to energetic, spiritual expressions. Active since the 1970s, she continues creating with vitality.

Zhao Hai Tien’s creative explorations are characterized by the diversity of media in her work—from airbrush on glass and acrylic on canvas to calligraphic experiments, large-scale public murals and oil paintings. Her practice blends technical precision with expressive freedom and spiritual influences. Over more than three decades of Buddhist and Taoist study—and twenty-four years under the guidance of a respected qigong master—Hai Tien’s work has shifted from contemplative, figurative compositions to liberated, spiritually resonant expressions that capture the flow of energy and inner awareness in vibrant, form-defying strokes. Her first solo show, Recent Works of Hai Tien, opened at the Alliance Française in Hong Kong (1972), launching a sustained presence in the local art scene, and leading to solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Berlin. Her work was also presented in prestigious group exhibitions across Asia, including the First Hong Kong Biennale (1971). Her most notable public artwork is Recreation of Being, a twenty-meter mosaic mural installed in Hong Kong’s Fortress Hill MTR station. The work offers a meditation on existence and rebirth, interwoven with themes of shared human compassion and embedded within the rhythms of daily life. This publication offers a comprehensive overview of Hai Tien’s artistic journey. From her early New York-inflected abstractions to her later meditative, calligraphic and cosmic visual language, she has consistently infused her practice with vitality and resilience—an enduring testament to her inquiry into identity, spirituality and the cosmos. Now in her eighties, Hai Tien continues to paint with unwavering dedication, extending her artistic vision into both technological and spiritual realms.