自序

中国古典艺术符号的当代性诠释一直是我绘画创作的主题，我创作的孙悟空、关公、钟馗、楚霸王，都是以京剧作为文化背景来表现的。

虽然我运用的是西方绘画颜料，但是内容和表现手法都深深根植于东方艺术传统，我将其称之为“意象绘画”。这种画法融合了中国传统书法和宋代梁楷为代表的减笔写意画法（《芥子园画谱》中称之为“极写意”），同时借鉴了德国表现主义、抽象表现主义等西方艺术流派的成果。西画那厚重的肌理和明丽的色彩给予了绘画更多的可能性，除此之外，我在绘画中也融入了书法的意象，使得线条在抽象与具象之间幻化、凝聚。

在绘画过程中，我对笔触本身的表现力越来越感兴趣，这或许源于我的东方艺术传统基因。我发现，相较于书法的线条，西画的痕迹在物质性、空间性、意象性方面更具优势。于我而言，真正的绘画是从我动用直觉捕捉“痕迹的表情”开始的，我独特的“竹笔”也正是为了表现变化极其丰富的笔触而出现的。

这 30 多年来，画画一直是我个人的事情，大众对我的作画过程知之甚少。一次偶然的机会，我的写意画法通过短视频的呈现得以放大，激发观者的兴趣。我对笔触偶然性的巧妙整理，也引起了观者共情。我心中的国潮，一定是有着鲜明的中国文化符号的。

传统文化是鲜活的，是有生命的；它是亲切可感的，可以融入当下生活的。我希望在作品中体现出人类共同的情感体验，展现出生命极致状态下忘我的、超然的、高亢的、激越的人物形象。

绘画于我而言，不仅是寻找一种存在感，更是一种表达方式。而表达的前提是感知和思考，在“循序”的过程中，“渐进”地找寻自我、认清自我，体悟人之为人身处思想、意识牢笼的困顿，顿悟人之为人挣脱思想、意识束缚的畅达。因此，绘画是渡我到达彼岸之舟。在作画过程中，人入画、画入人，物我两忘，自由自在，抵达本真，即是我性灵层面的执着追求。

Preface

The contemporary reinterpretation of classical Chinese artistic symbols has long been the central theme of my painting practice. Figures such as Sun Wukong, Guan Gong, Zhong Kui, and Xiang Yu are all portrayed against the cultural backdrop of Peking Opera. Although I work with Western painting materials, both the content and expressive language of my art are deeply rooted in the traditions of Eastern aesthetics. I describe this approach as “Imagistic Painting.”

My practice integrates the spirit of traditional Chinese calligraphy and the reductive freehand techniques exemplified by the Song Dynasty painter Liang Kai—what the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting refers to as the “ultimate freehand style.” At the same time, it draws inspiration from Western artistic movements including German Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism. The rich textures and vibrant colors of Western painting expand the expressive possibilities of the medium, while the incorporation of calligraphic imagery allows lines to shift and coalesce between abstraction and representation.

Over time, I have become increasingly fascinated by the expressive potential of the brushstroke itself, a fascination that perhaps stems from my grounding in Eastern artistic traditions. Compared with the linear language of calligraphy, I find that the traces left by Western painting possess greater advantages in terms of materiality, spatiality, and imagistic resonance. For me, true painting begins when intuition is activated to capture what I call “the expression of the mark.” My distinctive bamboo brush emerged precisely from this pursuit—a tool designed to create an extraordinarily rich and varied range of brushstrokes.

For more than three decades, painting has remained a deeply personal endeavor. The public knew little about my creative process until, by chance, short-form video platforms magnified the visual impact of my freehand technique and sparked widespread interest. The way I organize and respond to the accidental qualities of brushwork has also resonated emotionally with viewers.

To me, the essence of Guochao (China Chic) must be grounded in unmistakable Chinese cultural symbols. Traditional culture is not static; it is living, vibrant, and full of vitality. It is approachable, tangible, and capable of entering contemporary life. Through my work, I hope to convey universal human emotions and to depict figures in moments of heightened existence—self-forgetful, transcendent, passionate, and heroic.

Painting, for me, is not merely a means of establishing a sense of presence; it is fundamentally a mode of expression. Yet expression begins with perception and reflection. Through a gradual and disciplined process, one comes to search for the self, recognize the self, and experience both the constraints imposed by thought and consciousness and the liberation that comes from transcending them. In this sense, painting is the vessel that carries me toward the farther shore.

In the act of painting, the painter enters the painting, and the painting enters the painter. Subject and object dissolve into one another. Freed from attachment, one arrives at authenticity. This pursuit of spiritual freedom and inner truth remains my deepest artistic aspiration.