Who Am I To Paint Your Heart?

Over the last four years, Matt Milligan has been documenting Peter Lin and his restaurants in Taipei. Along the way, what started as straightforward documentation—photographs, video, interviews—began to feel inadequate. This feeling prompted him to start making paintings of his photographs, then layering photographs printed on vellum over paintings, and paintings on vellum over photographs. The work became a mix of what the camera captured and what he experienced with Peter, a combination of documentation and interpretation. In these pieces, Matt uses historical photographic printing processes: cyanotype (toned with aged Taiwanese tea), kallitype, salt print, and collodion-chloride. The paintings are made with oils on vellum and gouache and watercolor on paper. The black frames are made with found glass plate negative holders.

He wrote the poem last year during a photo session using an 8x10 camera to make a portrait of Peter. Special thanks to Edward Chiu of 1839 Contemporary Gallery and @mr.triangle for equipment and artistic collaboration. Matt made the video in 2023 when the chef offered to demonstrate how to make his version of three-cup chicken, a traditional dish with many interpretations. This work is an example of what happens when you document someone whose story has become intertwined with your own. The layers expose the gap between objective recording and personal experience—and attempt to bridge it.