Category: Asian Art Essays
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Dot and Emptiness: The Essence of Chinese Art
How can a small ink mark change an entire painting? Brush exercises, ensō circles and Liang Kai’s Li Bai Strolling lead from the making of a dot to the active role of unpainted space.
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Emperor Huizong: When Rulers Still Loved Art
Emperor Huizong’s bird-and-flower paintings and Slender Gold calligraphy still fascinate me. His cultural achievements also raise a difficult question: how does artistic sensitivity relate to the moral responsibilities of a ruler?
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What Is Reality? What Is Nothingness?
A painter’s comparison of quantum physics, Zen Buddhism and Daoism, with attention to their different meanings of reality and emptiness. Abstract works and optical illusions lead back to questions of perception, form and the space between marks.
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Emptiness, Space, and Depth
A spring collection exploring what happens between the marks: sparse drawings, dense black forms, musical references and abstract landscapes. A personal account of simplifying my work and finding new possibilities through contrast and conversation.
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Essence in Art: Less Is More
A few painted experiments ask what remains when detail and decoration fall away. Short verses, an ensō variation, jazz and Daoist imagery offer different ways of looking for the felt character of a subject.
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Wu Wei: Effortless Action in Daoism and Chinese Painting
Wu wei does not mean a lack of skill or attention. Cook Ding’s story offers a way to consider painting: learning what the material allows, responding without force, and knowing when to slow down or put the brush down.
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The Flow of Qi in Chinese Ink Painting
Two paintings become a way to follow the flow of qi: through brushstrokes, intervals and the directions that connect them. Annotated diagrams trace one possible walk through a composition.
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Bada Shanren & the Daoist Concept of Ziran (Naturalness)
What makes a few brushstrokes feel alive? Bada Shanren’s fish lead me from the Daoist idea of ziran to empty space, abstract painting and my own experiments with “fishness”.
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Daoist Talks (VI): Principles of Dao in Painting
A bamboo leaf, a dancer’s movement, a red peony: these examples help me think about naturalness in painting. The apparent freedom of a brushstroke rests on practice, yet must remain alive.
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Liang Kai: The Story of Eight Eminent Monks – Daoist Talks (IV)
A close look at Liang Kai’s Eight Eminent Monks, followed by a personal memory of meeting the painter Lin Kai in Beijing in 1982. Buddhist stories, a red-robed Bodhidharma, and an inscription whose humour took years to unfold.
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Daoist Talks (III): The Cosmos in One Dot
A practical exercise in looking at brush dots: their shape, rhythm and place in a painting. With examples by Shitao and a reflection on the relationship between a small mark, the ensō and the whole picture.
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Daoist Talks (II): The Basics
Daoism in Chinese painting: a personal introduction to xieyi, calligraphic brushwork, yin and yang, and the ways a landscape invites us to look. With examples by Shitao, Su Shi, Yun Shouping and Dong Qichang.
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Hakuin’s Koan: The Sound of One Hand Clapping
An open hand, a dark ground, and a question that resists a quick answer. My painting approaches Hakuin’s one-hand kōan as a meditation aid, rather than an illustration of a solution.
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Daoist Talks (I): Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream in Ink Painting
Zhuangzi dreams of being a butterfly; my goldfish dreams of being a bird. Through a contemporary ink painting, I explore shifting viewpoints, the spaces between forms, and what we bring to a picture when we look at it.
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From Daoism to Zen in Chinese Painting
Two paintings open a personal path from Daoist contrasts towards the openness I associate with Zen. Reflections on picture space, vitality and Xie He’s qiyun shengdong.
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Cats in Chinese Painting
Three cat paintings raise a question: what makes one more compelling than another? Looking closely at Zhu Da’s cat, I reflect on what is left unpainted, the appeal of simplicity and wu wei.
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The Meaning of a Dot in Chinese Painting & Calligraphy
A dot is a short stroke with a life of its own. Brushwork exercises and three versions of one painting explore what this small mark can change.
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Waltzing Corona: A Triptych on Balance and Yin-Yang
Three panels on dance and absence at the start of 2022, with a close look at their brushwork, empty spaces and shifting balance.
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The Essence of Chinese Painting: Emptiness and the Meaning of White
How can unpainted paper become as expressive as a brushstroke? A painter’s reflection on light, open space, Liang Kai and Bada Shanren, with Daoist and Buddhist texts kept in their distinct contexts.
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Mu Qi’s Six Persimmons: An Interpretation
My interpretation of Six Persimmons follows its ink tones, intervals and relationships, reading a life journey and a host with five guests in the small group.
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Zha Shibiao: A Simple Painting and Yet a Treasure
Two intertwined trees, a boatman and an inscription: a close reading of Zha Shibiao’s album leaf, with reflections on brushwork, host and guest, and the space beyond the marks.
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Copying Old Masters: Huang Binhong (黄宾虹)
Three comparisons between landscapes by Huang Binhong and my own studies, with reflections on brushwork, ink, open space and learning from earlier masters.
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The Essence of Chinese Painting (III)
How does a painting guide the eye? I explore beginning, development, turn and resolution through Pan Tianshou’s compositions, implied connections and the active role of empty space.
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Analyzing a Simple Painting by Qi Baishi 齐白石
A cabbage, two red chilies and an inscription: I look closely at how Qi Baishi turns an everyday subject into a lively composition of brushwork, color and open space.
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The Principle of Balance in Chinese Painting
How can a small bird balance a heavy branch? I explore the relationships between brushstrokes, painted forms and empty space through nine illustrations from Chinese painting and calligraphy.