From left, Steven C. Rockefeller Jr., artist Huang Yue, David Rockefeller and Huang Simi at the exhibition.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Traditionally, Chinese artists have used ink painting to express the beauty of flowers and birds, but artist Huang Yue has carried that tradition on with a western style of oil painting.

Flower and bird ink painting, a traditional art form that's unique to China, originated during the Tang Dynasty (618-907.) Since then, Chinese artists have expressed their emotions with gradations of mostly monochromatic strokes in ink, with scarce touches of color to accentuate the scene.

The manifestation differs greatly from those of Western oil paintings, where abundant colors and textures are used to create depth and abstractness.

Huang Yue's oil paintings of flowers and birds exist somewhere between the two. "My paintings are neither the traditional ink paintings of flowers and birds nor paintings of that under natural light in the West. It's somewhere in between. It's completely new, and innovation is the key for me," Huang said.