BU Zi (Chen Tsung-chen) was born in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1959. Taking calligraphy as his primary artistic medium, BU Zi has focused particularly on wild cursive script, grounding his practice in the discipline and techniques of classical Chinese calligraphy while pursuing the integration of ji (technique) and dao (the Way). Through decades of calligraphic practice, he has drawn inspiration from the spirit and brushwork of historical Chinese calligraphers, incorporating Eastern philosophy, personal experience, and bodily practice into his work to transform traditional writing into a contemporary artistic language.
BU Zi's wild cursive practice emphasizes the physicality, speed, and energy of writing. The acceleration, deceleration, turns, and pauses of his brushwork function not only as calligraphic rhythms but also as expressions of thought and lived experience. Through his distinctive "Vortical Script" the rotation and movement of the brush generate lines charged with momentum, creating a sense of speed, circulation, and explosive force across the pictorial field. Bringing together perceptions of nature, bodily action, philosophical reflection, spatial tension, and the aesthetics of speed, BU Zi extends calligraphy beyond written language while remaining rooted in its classical traditions, opening it toward resonances with music, dance, and abstract painting and exploring its possibilities as a form of contemporary artistic expression.