Taiwanese artist wins international postcard contest in Japan

Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) A Taiwanese artist made history Saturday when she was awarded the top prize in a postcard competition at a regional art museum in Japan, an achievement she attributed to the "blessings of the kami [deity]."

Lee Li-chin (李麗琴), who submitted a mixed-media artwork that combined embroidery and oil painting, was the first non-Japanese competitor to win the annual 10x15 World Contest, now in its 10th year.

On Saturday, she received the Mayor's Award for her postcard depiction of the Kawai Shrine in Kyoto. The award was presented by Mayor Masatomi Asano of Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, in eastern Japan.

In a phone interview with CNA after the ceremony, Lee explained how she first got the idea to create the winning postcard.

She said that during her first visit to Kyoto at the end of 2023 to view the maple leaves, she wandered away from the tour group and unexpectedly came across the Shimogamo Shrine, which includes the Kawai Shrine.

Lee said she moved by the striking red color of the torii, a traditional Shinto gate, which stood out against the surrounding green mountains.

After learning that the Kawai Shrine honored a female deity, "I prayed to her to help me become beautiful," Lee said, adding that the experience inspired the creation of her award-winning artwork.

During Saturday's award ceremony, Lee presented a gift of another of her art pieces to the Kurumaya Museum of Art, which had organized the contest. The painting depicts Ogawake House, part of the Kurumaya museum.

Speaking to the Japanese media, she said wanted to enrich her world by participating in the art contest and hoped to convey a message of love through her work.

Initially majoring in accounting, Lee later worked as an art editor.

Her passion for art led her to pursue a master's degree in visual arts at the University of Taipei when she was in her 50s, and she began creating art more assiduously after her parents died.

Having long practiced both oil painting and embroidery, Lee said, she eventually decided to combine the two mediums by first creating an oil painting and then adding embroidery once the paint had dried, to enhance the artwork's layers and details.

"I hadn't seen many people do this before, but I thought the two materials complemented each other, and I started trying," she told CNA.

Prior to participating in the Japanese contest, Lee had received widespread praise for 30 postcards she had created in the same mixed-media style for a competition held by the Museum of Fiber Arts in Taichung.