Su Jia-chyuan’s wife opens art exhibition after spending two years painting bananas

Hong Heng-chu spent two years painting bananas. The resulting works are part of an exhibition she opened at the Pingtung Art Museum after retiring from her role as deputy head of the Pingtung Agricultural Science and Technology Park.

Her husband, Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Su Jia-chyuan, returned to his hometown to attend the opening. Hong says retirement has given her more time to express herself. She has studied painting for 20 years and now also spends time dancing, singing and watching baseball, badminton and tennis.

Many of her works are connected to Pingtung and to memories of family life. They include paintings of her mother, relatives, the county magistrate’s residence and bananas. She says the banana series took two years because she wanted to show the fruit’s four sides and changing forms. Bananas also remind her of her father, who grew them, and of Pingtung’s farming communities. A portrait of her mother expresses her longing for her.

The museum is also hosting an exhibition by former Pingtung County Creativity Center director Lin Hui-ru. Lin uses a buttercream scraper together with clay relief, moving beyond traditional flat painting to create three-dimensional works. The two exhibitions opened at the same venue and will remain on display through Sept. 30.