Hsuan-Te Su was born in Taipei, Taiwan and started his art career later in life while he was a design manager in an international suitcase company in Taipei. Pin-Chih Su, the son of Hsuan-Te Su, joined his father’s art endeavors in his twenties by providing his photographic and Photoshop skills to enrich his father’s Chinese water ink paintings. In 2015, Pin-Chih Su earned his Ph.D. in artificial intelligence and cheminformatics from the University of Illinois. Meanwhile, Hsuan-Te Su earned his Master of Fine Arts from National Taiwan Normal University in 2016.

Together, the duo known as Messrs. Su, innovate ways to re-define the boundaries of Chinese water ink painting by combining techniques (brushing, collage, dripping, drawing, freehand style, rubbing, spraying, wrinkling, digital modification, printing, etc.) and color saturation to explore themes like psychedelic art, the universe, Chinese characters, Chinese philosophy (Zen and Tai chi), and architecture. The color saturation and unique patterns in their pieces bring strong contemporary visual impact, while their freehand layouts preserve the traditional Chinese style. Their works offer the audience a chance to reflect on dialogues between traditional Chinese water ink and Western contemporary art.