The Attack on Reality
By the late 80s, I became suspicious of the “perfect image.” Photography claims to show the truth, but it only shows the surface. In this series of overpainted portrait art, I took black-and-white prints—objective, mechanical recordings of a face—and attacked them with felt pens and graphic markers. It was an act of deconstruction. By overpainting the photo, I tried to peel away the social mask to reveal the psychological landscape beneath.
1. The Mask and the Face
Reality vs. Illusion (Zhen vs. Jia)
In Daoism, there is a constant interplay between the Real (Zhen 真) and the Illusory (Jia 假). Which is the true face? The photo (which captures the light) or the overpainting (which captures the energy)? By covering the eyes or distorting the mouth, I paradoxically make the subject more visible. The overpainting acts as an X-ray, exposing the anxiety or joy that the photo conceals.
2. Analog Glitch Aesthetics
Mechanical vs. Organic
Long before digital filters existed, I created “analog glitches.” The base layer is mechanical (the photocopy/scan)—rigid, cold, Yang. The top layer is organic (the hand-drawn line)—fluid, chaotic, Yin. This clash creates a visual vibration in my mixed media portraits. The face seems to dissolve or explode. It is a visual metaphor for the fragmentation of the modern identity.
3. Serial Repetition
The Mantra of the Face
In this mixed media paortraits I worked in strict cycles, creating 20 to 30 variations of the same theme. This repetition is meditative. Like reciting a mantra, repeating the face dissolves its meaning until only the abstract form remains. It was a necessary step away from the “subject” towards the “object” of art itself.
The Connection to Now
At first glance, these colorful, mixed media portraits series with portraits seem worlds apart from my current black-and-white ink paintings. Yet, the core intention remains similar: the search for essence. In 1985, I tried to find it by adding layers and colors to a face. Today, in my Zen work, I find it by removing them. These portraits are the necessary stepping stones on a journey from accumulation to reduction.
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