The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 19, 2025
My Heart is the Universe
c. 2000
(Chinese, 1924–2011)
Overall: 63.5 x 95.9 cm (25 x 37 3/4 in.)
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
Chou applied her so-called impact textural strokes (jixian cun) by hitting a wet brush against a rod to splatter ink on the silk painting surface.Description
This painting belongs to a series of Irene Chou’s late work, inspired by two lines of the Southern Song idealist and neo-Confucian philosopher Lu Jiuyuan: "The universe is my mind, and my mind is the universe."The background of ink wash is suffused with a brilliant green to create a depth of infinite space—"the symbolic depth, the depth from one’s heart and mind," as Chou says. In the midst of this infinite space is a small modulated sphere, her "inner self." The sphere echoes with the red disc and red lines of veins, which are the abstract symbols for the artist’s communion with the cosmic system. This painting communicates an exuberant joy and absolute freedom, as Chou searches for mystical oneness with the universe.
- c. 2000–after 2011The artist's collection, Brisbane, Australia, by descent to the artist's family?–2013(Lok Ku Gallery Ltd., Hong Kong, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)2013–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Chung, Anita. "Body, Mind, and Cosmos: The ink paintings of Irene Chou.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 55, no. 3 (May/June 2015): 14–15. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 15 archive.org
- Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 7-July 7, 2015).Irene Chou's solo exhibition. Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2003).
- {{cite web|title=My Heart is the Universe|url=false|author=Irene Chou|year=c. 2000|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.33