I really love this piece for the fact that I am able to preserve the humble and traditional look of Chinese painting while trying a new way of presenting my work. To me, that’s the most challenging part—to transform the tradition into a medium of conveying a modern idea while maintaining the old taste.
To maintain the tradition is crucial for me, because I think only by keeping the root in mind as a foundation can I have longevity in my art life. Another reason why I think my past, including my Chinese painting foundation and the oriental cultural influences on me, is so important is that traditional Chinese painting conveys a message in a humble, subtle way; unlike most of the modern painter trying to be as expressive as they could, humbleness, I think, is accepted by people much more easily, and by acceptance it means the willingness to agree and act in accordance with the message, similar to what religions do. And indeed, traditional Chinese painting is religious; it helps people to meditate and tranquilize the mind, and it was a way that helps people to practice their religious belief, which means, in the oriental tradition, to cultivate oneself -whether it is the pursue of tranquility in mind as Daoism preaches, the achievement in social harmony as Confucianism promote, or mercifulness as Buddhism enlightens.
The work was done in watercolor on paper. Before I laid the first mark, I arranged the frame to a composition I like, and then draw a “frame map” on my sketch book; I also number each frame so the composition won’t get messed up. After that I do a drawing on sketch book of how I want the Ivy to grow inside the frame. The main idea here is to let Ivy grow within the Wal-Mart frames without surpassing the boundaries. So frames are parts of the artwork. They represent the human structure putting oppression on nature. I paint the Ivy straightly on the watercolor paper without any preliminary sketch except following the “growing map” on my sketch book. To do that effectively, I practice mark-making of Mint Ivy’s growth pattern to the extent that it is good enough so my marks also “grew” relentlessly on paper. This is second crucial part of the work, as good marks, much more than color, bring life to art.
After the main body of the work is done, I build a pedestal for the “original” of my art work -the real Mint Ivy which accompanied me when I work in my studio; I thought this enhances my idea as I, the artist, am the distributor of the beauty from the original. Although nature is priceless, I put up a price for the real Mint Ivy that is much higher than my art work just to contrast with the fake one that is packed and oppressed by human.
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