Centered on the left wall are the mysterious and mesmereizing paper works of Syau-Cheng Lai. Combining acrylic paint, pastel, ink and gold leaf and in-one case-grit, the surfaces seem to shift and glisten, capturing and absorbing light on the raised edges, a cartographer's terrain. Combined with imaginative calligraphy, the sheets have the lustrous look of a contemporary Book of Hours.

By Nancy E. Green

Syau-Cheng Lai's two submissions, 'Searching for New Hebrides" and "Metropolis" are imaginative, archeological trackings in a tactile language of hieroglyphs and artifacts. Influenced by music, history, calligraphy, and sculpture, Lai's work seems to speak messages in a private language, only to be guessed at by the observer. Using a judicious combination of acrylic, pastel, ink, fabric, thread, straw, and sand, on handmade paper, she builds what she calls "cartographical terrains", rich private worlds.