Huang Ming-chang's paintings reach out from the local and native beyond the horizons of a fixed geographical setting or single point in time. Starting from the limited spaces of indoor life and everyday experience, the artist gradually expands his view to incorporate what lies outside the window and beyond the fences that demarcate the borders of our mundane microcosmos. A master of the detailed and minute as well as the sweeping and panoramic, he presents to audiences stunningly colourful outdoor subjects that capture his personal view of the world and clearly express the artist's deep attachment to, and involvement with, the natural world. Returning to Taiwan from abroad, Huang devoted his creative energy to two sets of similar projects, the 'Rice Field' series and the 'Views from Afar' series, both keen representations of the artist's love of a simpler and more serene world. His paintings of local scenery were no longer random photographic 'snapshot s' , but rather succinctly composed rural imageries that speak to audiences through their meticulous attention to detail, deftly combined to produce impressive tapestries of tranquility. It is as if the artist was compelled to imbue every inch of the canvas with an atmosphere of calm, idyllic poesy that seems to reject any intrusion from the noisy outer world. Just like the famous rice from his hometown Ruisui, Huang's paddy fields are renowned as dogged reminders of the natural beauty and charm of the gradually disappearing countryside. Huang Mingchang is the champion of the past, using his brush to try and save from oblivion what is inexorably fading from reality. (cf. Kao Chien-hui, 'A Cross-Section of 70s to 80s Art' in China Times, April 14, 1994)