In these past years of painting, I never intended to use conceptual ideas such as “East/West”, ”realistic/abstract”, to define my work but I clearly understand whatever the material, “entirety” will always be the issue of my attention.

Most traditional discourses of Chinese painting were centered on the perceptual direction of “aura”,”verve” and “vividness”. Rarely were there discussions on the concept of “entirety”. What exactly is this term, “entirety”, in relation to Chinese art?

The concept of “entirety” exists both in traditional Chinese painting and in calligraphy. Taking the calligraphy for example, from the first stroke when the brush touches the paper and every stroke thereafter, to the characters formed by the strokes, and the lines formed by the characters. The intimate relationships amongst all the strokes are constructed until the whole is complete. Only then, the artist’s vision and spirituality can be seen as an “entirety”. In fact, this concept applies to the brush painting as well. “Entirety” is not only in the structure, but also in the content. The process begins to exist with the brush and ink, where every dot and stroke compiles and affects the formation of “entirety”; therefore, the brush and ink undertake several aspects：to describe the object, to create an overall atmosphere, and to carry the abstract paradigm between every stroke.

As a result, the expressions of “entirety” and brush strokes in traditional art were accumulated for thousands of years of cultivation, which have definitely become important characteristics we cannot neglect. In fact, Chinese painting demands highly specialized techniques; nevertheless, it has inherited limitations, such as no halt, no mistakes, and no changes. Most traditional artists spent their whole lifetime perfecting their techniques and developing personal styles, but at the meantime, limited themselves from other possibilities due to their habitual techniques. So to break away from these habits and allowing one to find a new way, is the most important challenge in modern painting.

For that reason, I tried to use ink in a different way, and to release the traditional techniques by first making the strokes freely on paper and letting my inner drive rather than any preconceived pictorial structure to guide the brush. By doing so, the strokes on paper can dance independently, maybe in a simple rhythm or just a haphazard scribbles. All the strokes and forms do not have to possess any concept or objective. Then I randomly cut them into pieces just like colors on a palette, every piece embodies the inner strength that is about to be ignited. Since no structural composition is preplanned, everything is randomly revolving, but interacting with “entirety”. These strokes no longer have the lives as I have originally created for them; they have a brand new relationship and vitality; and the result has exceeded anything I can ever intentionally construct. Most importantly, all the dialogues between strokes and the sense of “entirety” are constantly interacting through countless adjustments, attempts, probing, deciding, and fitting, and the final form of “entirety” will eventually be revealed.