No matter how improvisational,graceful or spontaneous an masterpiece appeared, there was always an underlying control,which involved a struggle to gain the qualities of individuality and originality ,as is highly valued by a self-critical artist, who would become distraught when the work has lost all its freshness. Therefore whenever an artist works, the existence of his is like the ordeal of a convict in chain for the artist is confined in his strenuous frame of mind to chart the most significant technical changes to solve the sort of painter’s questions being raised all by himself.
The artist is involved in exploring the innovative way of expression which could be compared to being engaged in a pitched battle.The artist renders his accustomed manner and at the same time have to find something new through the illumination with his brushwork the process of painting itself.Therefore the drawing paper or canvas is a battlefield for old method and new attempt,traditional values and personal ideas.Such intense confrontation is not a delightful experience,but that could prompt the artist to move on, not being held up at a stagnant stage.Therefore, although it is painstaking to go through the conflict of putting new throughts in the already formed style,I still loved to experiment,and new techniques significantly changed my working methods.Upon looking at the second Chinese painting”Lotuses with a butterfly”of mine,one can tell that it is a bit different from my first painting which has a dragonfly in it.In a measure, to record one’s thoughs throught the wielding motions of a brush is like putting one’s ideas in writing. It seems to me that it is excellent to form one’s style more effectively,provided that the feeling is real,and that the ideas are personal.An attempt to create a series of ten paintings with the theme of lotuse is made and posed for me to grope for the most significant technical changes from one phase of my career to the next.
All painting is in some measure taken from nature;however it is not just the fidelity to nature,a stylistic painter’s motivation to do so would be Corot’s teaching:”While trying for the conscientious imitation of nature.”said Corot,”I never for a single instant lose the emotion which first seized me.”The artistic appeal of “Lotuses rising out of water look natual without showing the slightest trace of wonderful workmanship.” Such kind of celetial beauty is the infatuation to me and I am one of many many people through out many cultures being inspired by the symbolistic virtues carried by the flower.
The lotus flower has a strong pleasant odor and is the only water dwelling plant to regularly rise eight to twelve inches above the surface.Besides,in the belief of Buddhism,the growth pattern of a lotus flower signifies the progress of the soul.The roots of a lotus flower grow from the primeval mud of materialism,the stem then grows up through the waters of experience,where it lies pristinely above the water, and basks in the bright sunshine of enlightenment.
Therefore,the luminosity is the genuine color of the lotus flower.I was obsessed with finding ways to visualize it.Maybe some of the old masters also had the expressive emotion of mine.I found that one leaf from Yun Shou Ping’s Album of flowers used lotus flower as a subject matter and the lotus flower is rendered as a luminant with his own distinctive technique(the illustration above is the lotus flower depicted by Yun Shou Ping).I am receptive to what the art of the past could teach me,but I never directly incorporate specific elements from works by them.The idiosyncrasy of a painting appears to lie with an artist’s own throught and his own ability.Therefore the references of paintings by old masters are out of veneration for the basic principles that sustain my own creativity.
During the course of my creation,I do not exactly have realized where my experiments would lead. However it has striken me that how could the luminosity be viewed without the darkened background to set it off.Therefore the essential natural brightness of lotus flower had irradiated my mind.In the upper part of my painting, the seemingly random jabs, slashes, semi-effaced marks, combining with the illusion of space which is created by the use of subdued color tones,all together constituted a new and uniquely personal style to describe the extraordinary life and movement being ever lasting in the environment;at the same time,the illuminated quallity of lotus flower could stand out against the muted setting.
In the lower part of the painting,the water flowing in serpentines is an integrant vividity of the orchestrations.As one’s field of vision is rounded rather than rectangular,that the circulated inspection to veiw the painting is induced by the overall energetic and harmonious brushstrokes.The directions of the visional movements is also accentuated by the flying butterfly which is leading our attentions to the pristine beauty of the lotus flower.
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