Architect Dong Hui-peng of Ershui Township in Taiwan’s central Changhua County drew on his creative training to transform a mildewing wall in his house into a work of art.

Dong resides in an old house built 40 or 50 years ago. About 10 years ago, a small patch of the wall in the living room began to show signs of deteriorating, with paint peeling off and small portions of cement starting to crumble. This commonly seen situation in the humid and damp climate of Taiwan is colloquially referred to as “wall cancer.”

Dong did not tend to the situation at first, when the infected space was only about the size of his palm, and the wall cancer eventually crept over the entire two-meter-wide wall. At that point, he could no longer bear the sight and tried to cover up the problem by applying a thick coat of cement paint, only to see the wall cancer re-emerge, eating away at the added cement paint the following year.

The condition left white and gray spots all over the wall. However, earlier this year, Dong began to look at the wall in a different light. He found that the gorgeous color patterns actually resembled a traditional Chinese ink painting; it was as if ink had been spread over parts of the wall, enabling mountains in the distance to emerge.

This inspiration prompted him to immediately pull out his writing brush and paint feverishly on the wall, rounding out the lines and bringing various shapes to life, eventually creating a huge landscape painting that took advantage of the wall cancer to become a work of art.

Dong said these “cancer cells” are the result of 10 or 20 years of deterioration. He confessed that, at first, he was unnerved by the wall’s condition, which also became an embarrassment to him when it was spotted by visitors. Nothing he tried rectified the situation, until he eventually came to look at the molded wall in a positive frame of mind, rather than trying to fight the situation. He then used his brush to incorporate the deterioration and the wall itself into his life, transforming an eyesore in his living room into beauty.

Since he helps others design their homes, Dong needs to constantly find inspiration through daily activities. This practice in turn helped him change this eyesore at home into a highlight. In designing a 7,200 square foot garden for a luxury mansion recently, Dong drew on the wall cancer-inspired landscape painting in his own living room to design the mansion’s living room wall. This time, however, he used pine trees to embellish the setting.

(This article first appeared in the “Liberty Times” Dec. 23, 2009.)

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