Image of Time

Confucius, standing by a stream, said, “The passage of time is just like the flow of water.” － The Analects

Children cry out as they born, the aged suddenly die. Between these two things, is the journey of time and life.

How people live in time and how time leaves traces on lives, for those who think and who are sensitive, this is the only question.

Young artist Zhang Chunhua presents his thoughts on life and time through nearly twenty works created over the past two years. Some works capture the tranquil, zen moments in nature, such as pine trees, shadows in woods, remote mountains, and so on. The brush strokes and textures create a void, serene, and mysterious atmosphere. Some other works show seemingly simple objects like bookshelves, bookcases, a sofa for burning books, or trees on the ground. His passionate, firm but somewhat uneasy brush strokes are like a strong but thoughtful expression of his heart.

In terms of size, the large format works come from the artist’s habit, which he has had for many years, of painting outdoors. Those two meters canvases trained him to paint freely. In terms of artistic conception, his longstanding interest in ancient paintings, especially paintings from the Song Dynasty, bestows his work with a traditional style. All kinds of distractions are omitted from the pictures, for instances, colour, complicated details, and complex spatial relations. What remains is a pure and direct picture, a straight-to-the-point expression. In terms of his approach, the artist always reminds himself to keep a distance from trends in art, so as to retain his unique thinking and expression. This accentuates the spirituality behind the works.

Although his style varies, there is a consistent thematic element – time. Every person exists in a set of coordinates: the remembrance and survey of the past, the observation of and engagement with the present, and the imagination and exploration of the unknown future.

Of course, memory might be covered by dust, the landscape around us might be disguised with illusion, and the futuristic world is blurred and beyond our grasp. Zhang Chunhua’s works depict these three passages of time. The past in his paintings seems lonely but never indifferent. The scenes in his paintings seem chaotic and absurd but never too far from our life. Behind the representations lies an intangible but immense sense of self-possession. The artist uses his life experiences and wisdom in the attempt to clear up the dust and mist that pervade in our lives, which are caused by our fear and obsessiveness.

Viewing the works, we can see that the artist borrows various subject matters, techniques and internal characteristics, through different stages of contemplating and exploring, to accomplish a transformation at a spiritual level. The images are not depictions, but show the essential existence that remains when the superficial is peeled off. His brush strokes are far from showy, but are calm and primal, and his colours are never noisy, but simplistic. The almost colourless images convey a feeling of innocence. His works seem to be still, but the stillness, or the solidification, contains many thoughts on time, life and the unknown.

The artist said, “What attracts me about an object or image is a latent, hidden, and mysterious air. I prefer things that are motionless and unemotional at the surface but passionate underneath. There is a sense of unpredictability. There might be something dark or dangerous, or there might be something benign and soft. Those things always exist, and they are constantly on the verge of breaking to the surface…” This may explain why such simple and peaceful works always hint at a powerful tension.

The artist also said, “Many things in life are like bubbles, you see them everywhere but you cannot get hold of them. All we can do is look at them from afar, and calmly feel their existence.” Indeed, we cannot do anything about the passing of time and the inevitability of mortality. But we can try to feel the profound existence of the self and others in the midst of the commotion of life through the artist’s mind and eyes.

Zhang Yizhou 2013

(Translator: Hong Yane Wang)