Visual complexity is central to Cheng’s work. Our eyes naturally search for order: a branch to follow, a recognizable form, a way through. Cheng gives us just enough to find our bearings before pulling us back toward abstraction. A branch becomes a line, snow becomes a shape, and landscape becomes paint.

Her paintings move constantly between seeing a place and simply seeing. They make us aware of how we look: what we notice, what we ignore, and how instinctively we try to make sense of what is in front of us. In Cheng’s work, nature refuses to organize itself for us. We have to find our own way through.

Judy Cheng: “You begin to see beyond the subject and colour, and eventually you just allow the paint to move you. Painting has given me a different perspective of looking at your surroundings. I see art in everything and it inspires me to continue to create, experience and enjoy.”

Gordon Smith: “For many years I have been privileged to have known and worked with great architects and artists. I have taught at all levels, at UBC, Emily Carr and others. Judy and Jim Cheng have been friends of mine for many years. Judy has visited my studio and shown me her work; she understands what painting is all about. Before it is a landscape it is the act of painting, like a de Kooning. We have shared experiences photographing images together, but her painting is her own and I admire her work very much. I have learned from her.”