The Poetry of Ripples

Xia, Kejun

 

Constantly flowing ink is rinsed by water, infiltrated by water, and diluted with water so that it is not ink anymore, but has turned into water. Watery and oily materials, such as mineral water, beer, white wine, milk, and even broth of leftovers, sluice the ink repeatedly, which after the shooting engenders water ripples on the projected screen—flowing ripples, singing ripples, and unrestrained ripples.

At this moment, is there ink or no ink? Is the process the result of brushwork or of nature? Is this creation or discovery? Cindy’s ink work series prompts us to re-consider orthodox water-and-ink and brush-and-ink, further compelling us to contemplate the orthodox construction mode of artistic conception of landscape paintings.

Strictly speaking, Cindy does not ‘draw or paint’ as she seldom utilizes a brush. Her techniques seem to be closer to the orthodox mogu technique or the mode of splashing ink, which refers to the technique of splashing ink and water on rice paper and canvas without restraining their flow. With this technique, water and ink flow at will, exhibiting the freedom of entities incisively and vividly. The freedom embedded in Chinese culture can never be realized without the respect for the inherent quality of natural materials. This is demonstrated by amalgamating the inherent quality of entities—nature, freedom, and ease—in a marvelous way. Therefore, what she attempts to do is to capture a moment she appreciates, when the subject is engraved with its own imprint whereas the individual signature merely inscribes this snapped instant.

As the artist herself states, the pleasure of painting or shooting stems from the very instant when the photographer presses the camera shutter: click, click, a flowing instant—the most beautiful instant—comes to a halt temporarily. Nevertheless, on the screen, as water ripples keep inscribing, the form and momentum of scrolling, turning, winding, convoluting, fluctuating, and flowing are still preserved and circulating at this moment with the undercurrents of the water ripples stirred.

Although the quality of rice paper to absorb ink hinders the flow of ink, it is not that difficult to engender the flowing effect on rice paper. It is much more difficult to do so on canvas. The artist, however, after trying several kinds of canvases, has finally found a type of canvas that can preserve the imprint of flowing water ripples. Thus, I always admire the delicacy of the female artist’s skills.

Chinese orthodox landscape painting takes as its fundamental materials water and the nature of water, which is endowed with metaphysical quality. The flowing of water engenders water ripples, exhibits infinite vitality, and is thus transformed into the spirituality of freehand brushwork. Of course, with the programming of landscape painting, the spirituality of water, vividly artistic conception, or the momentum of spreading ink, is ossified. How can the nature of water spring up again? Cindy's ink and water splashing, an impromptu mode of painting, opens up a new possibility.

Cindy's water-and-ink work series also aim to discover the possibility of water and ink in daily life, uncovering the instant of those on the go, singing ripples, and various forms that entities exhibit in the wind. After the abstraction by the artist, they should appear in the form of pure lines of abstract ink and abstract color patches with abundant poetic images (like the color-field painting in American art). Perhaps it is only she, who has tremendous fondness for orthodox culture, is infatuated with ink landscape, and leads a wandering life between Hong Kong and Taiwan, that can maintain some orthodox treasure that we have long lost.

Some other riveting photos involve the impromptu splashing of various kinds of watery and oily materials on a glass pane, during which imprints of water ripples with landscape conception come into being. After the artist’s shooting and repeated viewing and interception, what emerges on the screen is the ink painting with orthodox landscape conceptions. Such astonishing moments in fact cannot be viewed in nature and the world of mortals, but are demonstrated in the form of paintings and images via the mode of artist’s behavioral art. Without the shooting, the divergent imprints on the glass pane are merely remnants, but now they have acquired an artistic form on the screen.

I once viewed Cindy’s water-and-ink work of behavioral art. It was late at night. Some friends practicing behavioral art asked her to perform again. After everything was ready, she started to pour various kinds of liquids slowly on the glass, and the audience focused on the flowing ink on the screen, which was endowed with flowing poetry and vividly represented the orthodox landscape conception. This procedure brought us into an ancient orthodox world, which was comprised of the imprints created by the artist, who lightly rinsed pigments, and sometimes even beer, milk, and ink, on the glass pane. After the imprints were projected, they seemed to have broken away from the conscription of the orthodox ink medium. Moreover, as the audience watched attentively the ink paintings on the screen, they would spontaneously respond. Artists also invited other artists, such as performers of folk music, to improvise on the music. With the free flow of ink poetry, some people would start to chant and hum, especially about their childhood thoughts as they were watching. It is Cindy’s seemingly haphazard performance that elicits such responses. However, this performance cannot do without techniques. Only after exploring for several years and experimenting on flowing ink on canvas repeatedly, plus her understanding about ink, could she discover this expressive mode and the artistic conception of water and ink on the screen. Her ability is also attributed to her discovery of daily poetry of water and ink. Her works bring us into a tranquil and remote and touching state of mind, where people and objects and people and people are united spiritually.

Cindy's water-and-ink also eliminates creation, as the works are neither orthodox brush painting nor pure creation, but results from the free flowing of water-and-ink materials. Of course, what seems arbitrary still originates from the control of persistent experiments. For example, when the artist pours water and ink onto the glass pane, strength, direction, and order are all taken into consideration, so that we can view the marvelous resurrection of the flowing poetry of orthodox landscape painting.

What is more fantastic is that she could discover the possibility of ink in crowded and jam-packed Beijing. Her passion for ink is projected onto this world where there is no poetry but she could discover the poetry of ink everywhere. For her, the spirits of ink have become a type of universal art that is capable of discovering the wonderful moment in life. The question of ink in the modern world, for her, is ubiquitous and we are required only to have a pair of inherently bright and clean eyes. Therefore, she could observe the abstract conception of ink from the overhead cables. In the work entitled Wind, these connected lines form a rhythm due to the associated photos, which seems to undulate in the wind. Succinct poetry thus grows in abundance and suddenly. Snapping the fluttering red flags in the wind and then juxtaposing them to demonstrate the various forms of objects and the graceful and elegant shape of the flag, the artist presents us with the diverse forms of entities and seems to compress the secret of time into space.

In those works entitled Ink Bone, the overhead cables are combined by the photographer in a more vivid manner and thus it seems that they are painted by a painter in the most abstract and concise fashion with lines conversing with one another at various kinds of angles. Furthermore, the painter names the work Ink Bone, exactly informing us of the inner relationship between artists and the orthodoxy. Those photo series with the sense of color field were in fact taken in Houhai, Beijing, but are suggestive of abstract colors. Cindy’s works are imbued with the specific spirituality and painstaking care of a Chinese female artist and with her eternal enthusiasm for the world and wonderful things during her wanderings.