Cryptography Series

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, “cryptography” is the practice of the enciphering and deciphering of messages in secret code in order to render them unintelligible to all but the intended receiver.

As a child, I didn’t share the camaraderie of other kids in games of tag or sports; I preferred the company of puzzles, kaleidoscopes, and labyrinths. Cryptography I marks the beginning of a series of secret messages, whisper networks, hidden solidarity, and alternative ways of existing.

Cryptography I, 2026
Detail

Cryptography II - Data Storage, 2026
Copper leaf, copper phosphate, pigment, handmade paper, wood
16.5cm x 29cm
Photograph by Yen-Chao Lin

One of the fundamental ways for me to understand the world is to break things down into diagrams, into schematics illustrating the pathways of the "how" and the "what."

My current research at the Warburg Institute has allowed me to indulge many long-standing interests, including garden design, fountains, mazes, ornamental architectural elements, knots, geometry, minerals, alchemy, folk magic, amulets, etc.

Cryptography III - Antimony, 2026
Aluminum leaf, copper phosphate, pigment, ground brick, paper, wood
40cm x 62.5cm
Photograph by Yen-Chao Lin

Cryptography III - Antimony, 2026
Detail

When I started studying studio arts in CÉGEP in 2000, I had to produce 2-3 acrylic or gouache paintings per week. Painting was never my medium, and I performed poorly. The only positive outcome of this intense exposure to painting was that it led me to investigate the origins of paint itself. This quest for the source quickly evolved into a full-blown, decades-long passion for pigments, minerals, historical processes, natural history, and alchemy.

I don’t consider myself a painter. For me, Cryptography Series are not paintings, they are two dimensional works.

Cryptography V - EUNOIA, 2026
Copper leaf, copper phosphate, green & red marl (mudstone), thulite, pigment, charcoal, eggshell, paper, wood
64.5cm x 31cm
Photograph by Yen-Chao Lin

Cryptography V - EUNOIA, 2026
Detail 

Eunoia is the shortest English word containing all five vowels, meaning ''a feeling of goodwill''.

I made my first eggshell mosaic in a 6th grade art class in Taiwan, it was a still life with milk pitcher and tableware. Although it was a one-off project, the experience left a strong impression on me, especially the ASMR sensation of eggshell crushing against paper, and the satisfying joy of the simplicity of it all.

Over the years, my interest in dowsing has slowly expanded into minerals and nihonga, (Japanese mineral painting). I've been collecting different minerals and grinding them into powder to use as pigments.

EUNOIA contains green and red marl collected from Penarth (UK) in April 2026.

Cryptography VII - The Wattle Fence, 2026
Copper leaf, copper phosphate, pigment, eggshell, paper, wood
40cm x 62.5cm
Photograph by Yen-Chao Lin

Cryptography VII - The Wattle Fence, 2026
Detail

I first became obsessed with wattle fences when I saw them in medieval illustrations of alchemy. It is a simple woven fence whose history dates back to the Stone Age, traditionally made with willow, hazel, dogwood, etc. I tried to make one this summer in Montreal, but was unable to find enough willow branches. I’ve started collecting the new growth from my forsythia, hoping to use it as a substitute for willow.