The Breath of a Blade is made up by two words, (剑气) Jianqi. Jian is sword, or blade; qi means breath, energy, or “life force”. When the swordsman and his blade come together as one, it is not the weapon that inspires awe; it is his aura – his jianqi – that does so.

Intrigued with the fictitious wuxia world, Tay playfully combined his love for wuxia novels and ink paintings. Through the ink medium and recent experiments, he was able to get closer to and feel the lofty, soul-stirring spirit found in the wuxia world.

These new series of ink paintings by Tay is driven by the endless possibilities in Chinese ink painting and his willingness to seek out new subject matters, techniques and most importantly, infusing a new spirit into his works.