In his creation of mixed-media paintings, Wu Qian seeks to convey his understanding of Chinese aesthetic values through forms and lines similar to the strokes of Chinese calligraphy.

The artist, who works in both New York and his native city of Xiamen, Fujian province, relies on a variation of the color of ink to depict a world of black and white, yin and yang.

Attainment through Formlessness, an exhibition at Xiamen Powerlong Art Center through Feb 9, shows dozens of Wu's recent paintings, presenting the wilderness of abstract expressionism he has been exposed to in the United States and underlying which he imbues with Eastern introversion.