Traces of Drawings
Tracks of Intercultural Journeys

Wang Pin-Hua

When we contemplate how "painting" started, our thoughts are naturally led to "drawing," a child’s play-like, instinctive and unconscious scribbling, which somewhat resembles painting in process; yet it appears more free-styled and impromptu compared to oil and acrylic paintings which employ complex tools and pigments. In the development of all human civilizations, looked at from a wider social perspective, I believe that "drawing" as used in our daily speech yields meanings as rich as its expressive qualities presented in visual media.

According to the traditional concept, "drawing" refers to certain quick lines sketched on paper by painters or sculptors for them to contemplate, before beginning work on actual paintings or sculptures. Therefore, "drawing" becomes a record of thoughts before an art work actually takes shape: it is traditionally presented on paper, and may be more broadly seen as a simple, monochromatic and non-affectational form of expression. Whether it be a draft-like study for forms or sketches jotted down as inspiration surfaces, "drawing," according to the concept of visual arts, has a quality of making "forms" gradually take shape and contains essences of speed, contemplation, development, uncertainty and change in its meaning. It has qualities of temporal multi-dimension and the immediate presentation of movements and states of mind. Hence, on a deeper level, "drawing" becomes a very intimate form of expression of the artist’s senses and mental states, and it is especially valuable as a direct manifestation of these phenomena, without being subject to additional processing and manipulation.

As an immediate mental record, "drawing" reflects the swiftly changing thoughts and complex perceptual activities within the artist; it is intense, direct, natural and impromptu. The artist’s initial vivid visual explorations, like thoughts embodied through visual expression, are first presented as "drawings," with hardly any superfluous adjectives or verbosity. This is why, when we look at an artist’s "drawings," we inspect traces of his/her paint brushes to discover the artist’s mental activities and to feel the precious passages of his experience. We are allowed to speculate about and imagine the moment when those mental activities were taking place only through these messages, which are meaningful yet difficult to perceive. The strokes of a "drawing" are always made in an instant, delineating an image that is difficult to reproduce; yet we can seemingly feel the inner emotions of the artist through each and every piece of this visual vocabulary with vivid and varying possibilities, conversing with each other and inviting us to portray the imagery inside the artist, which evokes within us boundless imaginings and a lively urge to, in turn, express ourselves. These distinct senses of immediacy and manifestation of life experience are what makes "drawings" so fascinating.

The exhibition "Traces of Drawing –Tracks of Intercultural Journeys" invites three exceptional artists with intercultural backgrounds to engage in an artistic dialogue through the unique trails revealed in their respective works.

Abstract painting is the principal style of representation chosen by all three artists; each makes good use of the qualities in materials and colors that are peculiar to painting to embody calm, delicate, compressed and heightened states of mind in their work, resulting in styles that are highly mature and distinctive; which, in turn, has made the exhibition a brilliant convergence of elements of painting and spirituality.

Coming from the United States, the geometrical structures in Lloyd Martin’s oil paintings convey moods that are composed and solemn. Cool colors and geometrical qualities indistinctly reveal the complex, delicate and changing sensate touches through the paintings’ composition. Without any overstatement but with a clear delineation of the differences between objects, Martin transforms the tension created by the difference between cool and warm colors into a gentle and solemn force; his style has a light touch but a bright, warm texture. The drawings of rectangles presented in this exhibition reveal the same spirit, but the tone appears much more relaxed, and a roaming state of mind spreads out along the smooth and colorful lines. An easy-going and lively independence of attitude, rarely seen in his oil paintings, unexpectedly comes to light through the leisurely lines and the composure ever-present in the pictures.

Under closer observation, in the oil paintings released between the years of 2004 and 2006 we see from time to time lines that look like frames with similar widths, dividing up the space or creating layers of space in the pictures; and continuous elements of painting appear in almost all of his works. With these frame-like lines, Martin creates a seemingly wider structure or multi-layered space by dividing and reconstructing the images, making the paintings extend far beyond the boundaries of the pictures. Meanwhile, each of these pictures has its own individual space while still bearing a strong sense of continuity, which leads the viewer to speculate that, if these pieces were "puzzles," then, by rearranging and combining them, whole new series of pictures could be created. This quality again destabilizes the meaning of those sharp frame lines, which look "drawn" or "pasted," turning them from delimiting "boundaries" into connections "uniting" multiple spaces, thus linking various spaces with very different attributes.

The exhaustive employment of frame lines has made the distinct style of segmentation and arrangement in the oil paintings become the multi-meaning extension of this unitary vocabulary. It is, in fact, a sense of freedom in segmentation and reconstruction, well hidden behind a solemn style and mood. This "sense of freedom" is more obvious in Martin’s drawings through the aforementioned roaming lines in the pictures and the color layers which constantly pass over all boundaries and edges. From this style of drawing, we perceive a stronger sense of "writing" than that expressed through oil paintings. This type of "writing" is like a free and lively record of the vagaries of the artist’s emotions, or a kind of bright "poetic" mood, revealed through lighter, more penetrating and textured pictorial expressions.

Jason Chi, the youngest artist, is also the initiator of this exhibition. Because of his studies in the US, he is constantly traveling between the States and Taiwan; few can be more familiar with the sentiments of journeying and homecoming than Chi. Since he grew up away from, and now spends most of his time outside of, his hometown, when he does go home, his home and its environment have changed completely from his memories of them. Since the home of his distant memory has forever disappeared, the only solace he can find is within himself. The sentiments derived from the twin epiphanies that "now is all there is" and "everything is changing" are often revealed in his works. The progress of his painting, from his early career, is revealed through the geometrical structures and the initial delicate and sensate strokes; later through the arrangement which covers up the pictures; and the final presentation which evolves into traces and senses of colors that look almost like "lights." The sense of spaciousness, a result of all the elements mixed and harmonized in the pictures, reveals its inner light through light colors, or manifests its subtly varying traces through freely moving lines. His early works often employ lineal elements as the main structure, and amongst the oblique lines in the principal structures, he leads the viewer to notice more complex and delicate thin lines revealed from the bottom layer, analogous to the contrast between the heavier main rhythm and the complex and nimble concerto in a music piece, displaying his own distinct painterly vocabulary. Besides interweaving and varying the main and subsidiary structures, the other crucial vocabulary set in his works is the presentation of misty "colorful lights." Graceful and charming lines or flourishing and colorful dots, floating in the space of numinous, colorful lights, add mutable and free emotional elements to the pictures. However, their random roamings, appearances and disappearances provide these painting elements with a primitive and sprawling latent force. In this uncertain space, all kinds of imagery and passages composed of colors and shapes create more opportunities for themselves to transform and develop, their random interplay enhancing each element.

Dots and lines freely scattered and spread out in oil paintings appear even more promiscuous and random in drawings, forming a sense of tangibility within absence and texture within lightness. In the early works of Chi, which draw on the principles of western painting traditions, every single stroke of the brush is an integral link in his well-knit compositions of dots, lines and surfaces. His drawings, on the other hand, are filled with flowing curved lines and colorful dots that appear so emotionally charged that there seem to be fragments of feelings and perceptions wandering amidst their flowing motion. They turn the paintings into presentations of a sequence of time that is loose but continuous, a movement through space that is condensed yet vast, and a mentality that is both relaxed and focused.

In his works, the influences from the two distinct cultures of East and West have apparently fused into an integral whole. However, in this exhibition, through a "drawing" he used to retouch daily, Chi reveals further traces of a light, elegant and exquisite oriental aesthetic informing his paintings. His experiences of "light" and of a life in transit between the East and West, lead us to another participant of this exhibition.

Having lived abroad in France and the United States for over 30 years, artist Paul Chiang has always found art to be the primary expression of his interest in spirituality, clearly demonstrated by the sense of the meditative that runs through his works. Since the beginning of his career he has always presented in his work, as he earnestly pursues in daily life, the pure sentiment of an artist and the ideal of an unflagging pursuit of art. Therefore, the viewer can perceive, hidden behind the expression of "light" in his works, is a seemingly more distant and powerful luminous source, which may be traced to a particular cause - a mood distinct from the graceful sense of light presented in Chi’s works. Most of the paintings are thick layers covering earlier works, which leads us to wonder if the shapes and colors he has decided to keep in the pictures – that is, the most basic vocabulary of painting – are those he has already re-examined, reviewed and even rejected. In the end, what remains in the painting is a presentation of "light;" and its source which has nothing to do with real or natural light, but is instead a positive solution, arrived at through deep introspection, to the question of what should exist in his art. Therefore, in some of the paintings, all kinds of peculiar textures are created through layers of images stacked on top of each other, leading the pieces to present qualities that seem almost alien, which reflects the artist’s minute rumination over living and life.

What is unique about this exhibition is that the works displayed are not paintings the artists have spent a long time working on; instead, what is presented here is the testing ground of art – the artists’ studios. From the colorful traces on corrugated paperboards, abandoned by the artists after they had finished working on particular projects, we can almost trace back to the pieces that were created there. Objects such as artist’s shoes or paintings on glass or wood, unwittingly created by artists while experimenting, have all turned into reflections on the art works, and what is even more valuable is that these objects present the uncontrolled traces inadvertently left by the artists, and the viewer feels as if he/she were present at the scene of creation.

From the calm, grave mood of the paintings created by the artists, we see how an artist interprets the texture and light of objects with his/her keen mental vision. Through the production of paintings that embody a timelessness and latent spiritual energy, the artist fuses the subject, the medium and the spirituality of painting, as if a strong force saturated him/her and the objects; and the "light" in the paintings is realized through this strong force. On the other hand, in the artist’s studio, this sense of saturation is undoubtedly modified by unseen forces – the traces left by the strong temperament of the artist, filled with the unconscious movement of life – into a "work field."

The peculiar artistic quality of "drawing" is vividly presented on paper through the distinct visual vocabularies and contexts of each of the three artists, while the uniqueness and profundity of their styles and their own engagement with art allows the familiarity, accessibility and swiftness of "drawing" to leave residues of their "spiritual practice" throughout the works. Thus, for these three artists, with their minds roaming across cultural boundaries, across stages of life, and between the past and the future of their own unique existences, "drawing" becomes the most direct channel available to the viewer for tracking the traces of their minds.

 

 

素描之跡　 跨文化遊踪

文 / 王品驊

如果思考「繪畫」，思維「繪畫」如何開始，很難不想到「素描」，一種比兒童遊戲性、本能、無意識的塗鴉，略具一些畫面進行中的意識，但又比運用了複雜畫具、顏料的油畫、壓克力等繪畫形式，顯得隨性、並且即興。從更廣泛的社會性來看，在各人類文明的發展中，「素描」運用在日常用語中的語義，相信跟它在視覺性媒介中的表達特質是一樣的豐富。

就傳統概念而言，「素描」，可能指藝術家在正式作畫前，或雕塑家進行立體創作前，某種快速進行的描繪，畫在草稿紙上，讓畫家、雕塑家得以沉思造型。因此，「素描」成為造型之前的思索記載，一種紙上描繪的表現類型；或是想像為一種單色表現的、樸素不矯飾的表達型態。無論是就一種草稿般的造型磨練，或是隨手速記靈感的草圖等近似的形式，總之，就視覺藝術的概念來看，「素描」具有一種使「造型」逐漸誕生的特性，善於將快速的、思索的、發展的、不確定的、變化的種種可能性均納入其中，既具有時間上的多重特質，同時還有動態的、心靈狀態的第一手體現等的義蘊。因此，從更進一層來看，「素描」成為一種極為貼近藝術家身體感知和精神狀態的表現型態，特別是不尚經營、不尚加工的這種可貴的直接性透露。

如同一個最直接的心靈載體，「素描」體現了藝術家心中瞬息萬變的思維和複雜的感性活動，強烈、直接並且隨興自然。活生生躍動著的視覺探索，就像一個視覺思維的事件，幾近以未多加形容詞或贅言的方式，首先從畫家的「素描」中體現。

這是之所以，我們觀看藝術家的「素描」作品，我們是循著畫面的軌跡，發現藝術家心靈活動、感受體驗的珍貴片段，彷彿能讓觀者，去加以揣摩想像的某種現場感，在意味豐富，卻解讀不易的訊息中流露。「素描」總是在片刻的瞬間，落下了筆觸，勾勒出了某種難以描摹的視覺型態，我們卻從中如同感受著藝術家的內在情感，每個視覺語彙都以一種躍動的、充滿變化的可能性，彼此對話，向我們招喚，將潛在於藝術家內心的形象描繪出來，使我們也洋溢著活潑的表達衝動和想像的自由性。這種鮮明的當下時間感和生命經驗流露，成為「素描」作品的迷人魅力。

《素描之跡─跨文化遊踪》這個展覽，邀請了三位特殊的，都具有跨文化色彩的藝術家，各自以其作品無法掩藏的獨特蹤跡，來進行這場藝術對話。

三位藝術家，都以抽象繪畫為主要的表達型態，並且作品都運用著繪畫的特有質感、色感的媒介特性，將冷靜的、細膩的、簡約又極限的精神特質，體現得極為成熟又各具差異性。這使得這個展覽，成為一種在繪畫要素與精神性之間的精采交匯。

從美國遠道而來，美國藝術家Lloyd Martin，在油畫中體現出的幾何結構，具有沉穩嚴謹的氣質。冷調的色彩及幾何性，使得複雜細膩變化著的感性觸覺，以一種內斂的質感隱隱從幾何構體之間透露出來。毫無誇飾，彷彿僅是呈現事物之間坦然的差異，讓個別冷暖色彩之間形成的張力，轉化為一種溫和儼然的力量，這種繪畫況味，如同一種淡泊卻明亮有暖意的精神質感。在這次所展出的紙上方形尺幅的素描作品中，同樣將那樣的精神體現出來，但是顯得較油畫筆調輕鬆許多，有種心靈的遊走狀態，藉著色彩筆觸的流洩感漫遊開來。畫面中意態悠遊的線條和一向有的沉穩質感，竟透出一些些油畫中較少浮現的輕鬆活潑的自主態度。

這次展覽中最年輕的藝術家紀嘉華，同時也是這個展覽的發起人。他在美國求學的歷程，使得他也總是往返於美國和台灣，再熟悉不過的旅程和歸鄉的感覺，但對於一位成長、長年不居住於家鄉的人來說，當他回家，整個家所在的環境，已經與記憶中截然不同，既然已失去記憶中的遙遠處所，僅有心靈能以為家，這種應當體認當下即是、實質在歷程中遷變的生命情感，常常也在他的作品無遺的流露出來。他的繪畫歷程，就從早期幾何結構和底層細密的感性筆觸之間張力而透出，其後從覆蓋性的畫面處理，到最後體現一種幾近「光」的畫跡和色感。從畫面混融遼闊的空間性中，藉由粉色的色彩感，透出內裡的光，或以線條恣性遊走顯現出輕淺變化的軌跡。在他的作品中，東西方不同文化背景的交織和滋養，顯然已經渾然融合為一，這次展覽，特別藉由他曾經日日描畫一張的「素描」──更體現出他繪畫中內藏輕盈靈妙的東方美學的語彙蹤跡。他畫中的「光」的體驗，以及往返於東西之間的生命經歷，引出了另一位參展藝術家。

藝術家江賢二，旅居法國、美國三十餘年，並且始終以藝術作為精神的主要關切，這從他一直以來作品中所透露的生命凝注感，表露無遺。在他作品中，從早期以來，一直彷彿身體力行般的，體現出藝術家去蕪存菁的生命情操，始終不放棄追求著藝術的純粹理想。因而，觀者很能理解，感受到他作品中關於「光」的表達，背後彷彿隱藏著更為遙遠且強大的光源感是其來有自，這說明了與紀嘉華輕盈光線感不同的繪畫語境。如果先看多數作品，均是厚厚層疊的覆蓋著早先的作品，已經讓我們想像，是否對於畫家而言，什麼是應該在畫中留下的造型和色彩──也就是繪畫最基本的語彙，恐怕是他常反覆追問、審視、甚至予以否定的。最後，畫作留下的是關於「光」的表現，這個「光」的來源，不僅與物理性的光、自然屬性的光無關，反而是在那深刻省察後，最終肯定藝術之中該存有之物。因而，有些畫作，仰賴著畫面層疊後，在畫面產生出各種特有肌理，使得作品幾乎出現一種新的物性，所反映的應該就是藝術家在藝術中對於生活、生命的細膩咀嚼。特別的是，在這次的展覽作品中，並未選擇畫家長久經營下的繪畫類型作品，倒是呈現了藝術的工作現場─藝術家的工作室，藝術家在進行不同作品時，所留下色彩斑瀾的畫跡，從那瓦愣紙板上，我們幾乎可以循溯出有那幾件作品曾經在此誕生。或是畫家的鞋、畫家進行作品測試後無意中發展出的玻璃板繪畫、木條等等，透過這些已經藉由藝術家的感染、延伸，轉化為藝術體現之物……，並且難得的是呈現了畫家未經掌控的、不經意身影，觀者彷彿親臨了一個藝術萌發的現場。

「素描」特有的繪畫特性，不僅在這個展覽中，藉由不同藝術家以不同的藝術語彙脈絡，鮮明的呈現於紙上作品中，同時以這三位藝術家獨特深潛的藝術風格而言，「素描」方式的親切感、日常性、快速性，已經使得他們的「素描」作品，彷彿是呈現了他們恆常面對藝術，作為一種「精神習練」的痕跡。而這三位藝術家在心靈遊走於跨文化界域和生命階段的過往及未來的獨特存在中，「素描」成為觀者溯循其精神蹤跡，最直接的通道。