I have in
my blood an uneasy need for change, which is the constant evolution of
perpetual search for progress in my métier. The thought of finding some new
secret of this difficult craft has always haunted me. I have to modify the
expressive technique, when setting out the new esthetic ideas, it comes to the
means by which they convey the dreams through art. This means that I should
pursue a wider knowledge of the resources of my art, that I remain forever an
apprentice.
Years of
obstinate plodding along the same path of painting dotted with difficulties and
successes, with anxious self-questioning and uncertainty, I am still able to
carry my purpose which is impelled by a desire of escaping from the confines of
tradition and the finality of a kind of visual form. The presence of whatever
model in a work is just passing reference; it enables me to be assured that my
invention is not moving improbably far from the truth.
I find
that when I abandoned the habitual expressive way, I were not only richer in
experience, I were ready to be myself. Therefore each version of the lotus pond
would reveal an essentially different ramification of my spirit and feelings.
In this
painting, I draw a kingfisher perching on the stem of the seed cup. This
brightly colored bird is so beautiful that in China in the Qing dynasty, many
headdress ornaments wore by the empresses and imperial concubines were covered
with kingfisher feathers. My concern of the bird is to retain its glistening
textures with the technique of small strokes, with which I endeavored to create
voluminous form.
I also
developed the forms of the seed cup, the leaves, flower in my composition
sculpturally and they also take the subtle lights well; here the picturesque
could serve to firm up the whole and impose coherence.
This is
the last painting, the tenth version of the serial of ‘Lotus Pond’. I would
apply myself to carrying on the next stage of my development.
