This exhibition is a condensed representation of my explorations in painting over the past two years. Diverging from faithfully depicting light as before, in the past year, I have embraced a painting style that emphasizes texture and materiality. The showcased artworks revolve around the concepts of "windows" and "scenery," delving into the interplay between the body, memories, and weather.
The notion of "windows" extends from my previous series "Mon miroir, ta fenêtre" (My Mirror, Your Window). Looking out from my residence in Paris, I view the wall of a building across the street, resembling a scene from the movie "Rear Window." Throughout the two years of the pandemic, I continuously measure the relationship and boundaries between my body and the outside world from this singular perspective.
"For a Long Time, the Shallow Reliefs of Egypt Have Captivated Me"
Starting last year, I began experimenting with plastiline to create "sketches," using manual sculpting to retrace landscapes from memory. Subsequently, I captured the traces and variations of light and shadow left on the plastiline through painting. In the "Landscape Templates" series, I aim to depict the contradiction between the sense of volume and the boundlessness of distant landscapes, akin to the weightiness of a monument that leads to spirituality and eternity. The use of monochromatic tones avoids specific weather patterns and echoes the uncertainty of memory and dreams.
The two large-scale paintings in the exhibition were completed in the final phase. With the canvas lying flat on the ground, I used self-made long-handled brushes and a generous amount of diluted pigments to drive my entire body in an attempt to write a potential landscape - the landscapes that the body remembers. Ultimately, light emerged in the crevices of the brushstrokes, and scenes emerged between transparency and opacity.
"Slumbering Contemplation in Bronkhurst"
Among all the artworks, "Slumbering Contemplation in Bronkhurst" holds a special place (created during my brief stay in Taiwan in May). Through this sculpture that I deeply admire, I aim to portray a state of rest where only light and space exist, devoid of time: a "stillness" between life and non-life.
The exhibited works span different times, series, and painting techniques, at times steadfast and at times vivid, alternating between clarity and blur. They refract a backdrop of spacetime and realms. The exhibition title is inspired by a line from Su Shi's "Prelude to Water Melodies." While it may superficially correspond to the isolation during the pandemic, its true essence lies in Su Shi's elucidation of his tranquil state of mind regardless of fair or foul weather.