陈岸瑛文章 | 她的画，在一呼一吸之间 @钟蜀珩

2018-08-25 21:41

陈岸瑛文章 | 她的画，在一呼一吸之间 @钟蜀珩

钟蜀珩冬日小河 44×36.5 布面油画 1990年

她的画，在一呼一吸之间

文/陈岸瑛

七月的一天，来到钟蜀珩、刘巨德先生的山中画室。画室与张仃先生故居毗邻，依山而建，拾级而下，草木丛生，山势崆峒。十年动乱结束后，刘巨德、钟蜀珩夫妇先后考取庞薰琹、吴冠中的研究生，从云南回母校与壮心未已的先生们重聚，在80年代的春光中重走光华之路。光华之路，是新中国艺术、设计史上一条未竞之路，以装饰美化人民生活为宗旨，以形式研究为基础，融汇古今中西而探索一条文化艺术领域的中华复兴之路。如今，有着筚路蓝缕之功的老先生们已相继仙逝，他们所开创的教学传统在学院文脉中延续；他们所留下的精神遗产，依然在活态传承，不断结出新的硕果。数十年来，刘巨德、钟蜀珩夫妇自觉地守护着这份精神遗产，通过勤勤恳恳的艺术劳作，为中华民族的精神家园开拓耕耘。

山不在高，有仙则名。水不在深，有龙则灵。两位先生的画室面积不大，甚至略显局促，却充满了虔敬的工作氛围。钟先生工作时颜料和画具要摆放得整整齐齐，要等一切准备就绪，周边清静了，才能开始动笔。钟先生说，这是为了作画时更加专注，不至于手忙脚乱。画室中摆放着两组刚刚完成的油画作品，一组三联画占据着整个主墙面，描绘了夏日里绿意盎然、光影流动的荷塘；另一幅画背靠另一堵墙，描绘了胡麻花盛开的草原。绿色调不好把握，因此格外需要耐心。这两组作品，钟先生画了很长时间了，有时候一整天都不见大的动静，只是在局部处理一些色彩关系的细节。“荷花给我的感觉是圣洁的，有佛性的东西在里面，包含着无限生机。我看过很多荷塘，包括爱荷华州无边无际的大荷塘。荷塘是一种大气象，有无尽的东西在里面，生机勃勃，光色不停地流动变化，绿色互相映照，你中有我我中有你。一直想把这种感觉表达出来，但是对景写生不可能把这种感觉表达出来”。钟先生一面端详自己的作品，一面断断续续地讲述自己的创作心得，直到从天窗洒落的阳光西斜，不再干扰到画布上的光影明暗，才放心让我们欣赏。

钟蜀珩佳县黄河 78.5×54.5 纸面油彩 1983

走近前看画面，每一个局部都由细微、抽象的色彩关系构成，有些像莫奈所画的巨幅睡莲。晚年的莫奈曾对来访的画商詹泊尔感叹说，“我是在力求掌握那瞬间的色彩，我要表现那不可捉摸的无形的东西。这说来也是我本身的毛病。光线已经消失，但是色彩还在，这怎么处理，真伤透了脑筋啊。色彩，不论什么色彩，寿命只有秒把钟，有时顶多三四分钟，这怎么办。三四分钟怎么能画得及？色彩一消失，你就得停笔！唉，真要我的命，画画真要我的命！”在融合中西的绘画之路上，钟先生的创作感悟是与印象派相通的。从德拉克洛瓦到印象派，使得西方绘画偏离了以素描为基石的古典绘画体系，促使色彩获得独立的情感表现价值，并最终走向完全的抽象——色彩音乐。钟先生也同样在音乐的意义上去理解色彩，并把绘画的内在结构理解为抽象的，但她始终没有放弃绘画中的具象因素，以及对自然的东方式的静观冥想。

钟蜀珩荷 210cm×600cm 布面油彩 2017

在她看来，音乐是艺术中的艺术，不依赖于具象，是艺术中创作体系最严密的；作画好比作曲，有主调，有强弱，画家不得不把大量时间花在控制画面的音调关系上，不能离开抽象一步；在给学生上色彩课时，她所要求的也是不受具象干扰的抽象训练，她摆放的静物体现出一种抽象的结构。然而，她和她的老师吴冠中一样，最终主张风筝不断线。在她看来，抽象画总要与人对自然的某种感受相呼应，才能打动人。她认为，绘画是平面的幻觉，应在意幻觉与人的亲和关系。画在似与不似之间，现实中没有这样的荷塘，但是看了画中的荷塘，却能让人感受到一个更为生动、更为真切的荷塘。这荷塘，有着平面中的深远，混沌中的微茫，就像古代的山水画，能够让观者走进自然的深处。

在《寻归自然》一文中，钟先生说，“西方艺术注重科学规律，特别是现代艺术对视觉规律的研究，使西方艺术家无论在造型还是色彩的表现上，都能达到非常强烈的视觉效果……东方艺术受诗学和哲学的影响，在画面中体验着如云似水的运动变幻，寻求与自然生命精神的和谐。东方艺术的境界博大深远，文化上可以做到海纳百川。我崇尚东方艺术的美学境界，同时也认识到艺术的科学规律在艺术表现中性命攸关的作用”。在教学和研究的过程中，钟先生推崇印象派以来的西方色彩体系，创造性地阐发了明度作为色彩骨骼的重要意义，也注意色彩科学在创作中的应用，但是这些理性的东西，归根结底是要为感性服务的。一个艺术家的感性，除了与生俱来的个人性情以外，也与养育他的文化土壤相关。蒙德里安和康定斯基也信奉神秘主义的通神论，但这种神秘主义是从欧几里德、柏拉图的宇宙观里演化出来的，将宇宙的本源理解为数学秩序，这与中国人所理解的变动不居的宇宙是有所不同的。

在融汇中西的艺术道路上，钟先生所取的立场实际上是“中学为体，西学为用”，虽然她与塞尚、梵高、马蒂斯和康定斯基惺惺相惜，但从心性上更接近于古代的山水画家。这使她的《荷塘》不同于莫奈的《睡莲》，而带有写意水墨的味道。在《寻归自然》一文中，她由衷地赞美宋代山水画，“宋人作画注重观察自然与生活，宋代山水画的面貌是与自然亲和的，但它那宏伟幽深的空间效果并不依赖科学的透视法，它表现光感亦非靠自然主义的光影，而是以非常成熟的美学观，引导出‘俯仰自得、游心太玄’的高远、深远、平远的空间表现手段，它在充实中表达了将自身融于自然和谐的忘我精神，而这正是艺术最高妙最美丽的境界”。《荷塘》中也有强烈的光感，但是钟先生强调说，这种光并非自然的光，她所画的荷塘，也并非对景写生的结果。

钟蜀珩水城 52×39cm 纸面水粉 1980

受苏俄写实主义影响，写生一度是挽救山水画的“灵丹妙药”。吴冠中的“搬家写生法”以及对“形式美”、“抽象美”的强调，从表面看是从西方古典主义转向西方现代主义，从深层来看，却是向东方审美的回归。钟先生曾随吴先生外出写生，吴先生特殊的“写生法”给了她强烈的影响。西方人所画的风景和静物，在某种意义上是死的、静止的对象，而中国人所理解的写生，却要在某种意义上“摄取”对象的魂魄。

《荷塘》并不脱离作者所观看、体验过的荷塘，却又不是对景写生的产物，更不是从照片上“扣”下来的风景，而是在漫长的生命体验中孕育成形的心相。奇妙的是，这心相并不是静止的，而是气象万千、周游变化的，与之呼应的色彩和空间关系也因此摇曳生姿、变幻莫测。这样的艺术创作，正在于一呼一吸之间，吸入自然之气，呼出形式之美。她在《寻归自然》中说，“绘画是在诚实的心境下孤独进行的工作。我在作画时只是在试图用绘画的语言尽可能地和自然对话，哪怕观察到的只是一束光或一阵轻风吹来的绒毛，我要对它说我是怎样感受它的存在，理解它的灵魂。我为自己在生命过程中能与自然交流而体验到存在感到快乐”。在这里，自然并非作为理性观照的对象而存在，人本身就是自然的一部分，人与自然是一种交流关系。

钟先生以同样的态度对待“静物”与“模特”。给刘先生留下深刻印象的，是她如何去画一根萝卜。“我画萝卜，托起它，一个沉甸甸的透明的白色胴体，展示着自然赋予生命的鲜活与高贵，一小点嫩绿的萝卜缨滋生在端头，体态硕大简洁，凉凉的，润润的，能嗅到它的清香”。（钟蜀珩，《画随心缘》）有评论家说，塞尚像个瞎子一样画画，这是指他超越了西方古典绘画的视觉中心主义，开始用绘画表现触觉和重量感。钟先生作为一个东方的画家，并无这样的禁忌，从多重感官、从心灵去感受对象，对于她而言是一种与生俱来的禀赋。在《寻归自然》一文中，她曾这样总结道，“如果是以心灵指导视觉，观察自然就不应局限在眼睛”。在西方美学中，类似的意思常常被笨拙地表达为“通感”、“统觉”或“想象力”，世界的表象建立在感官的基础之上，艺术形象是对感觉材料的加工与综合。在东方美学中，心灵映照万物，人与万物同呼吸，却是一件自然而然的事情。万物静观皆自得，这里的静观，并不是指先用眼睛看，然后用大脑去加工处理，而是张开眼就看到了万物。用钟先生喜欢的一句诗来形容，也即“山光悦鸟性，潭影空人心”。

她用心看“静物”，也用心去看“模特”。她面对人物写生时，人是可以随意走动的。油画作品《小川》（1993）画的是一位弹吉他的姑娘。这位姑娘是常来她家做客的一位朋友，聊天、弹琴、吃零食，最打动她的是她沉浸在音乐中的那种状态。这幅画不仅抓住了小川弹琴时的神态，而且通过微妙的色彩变化，捕捉到像音乐一样流动的光。钟先生说，人也是来自原始的气，是自然的一部分，人是活的，自然也是活的。气化生万物，宇宙万物都在流动变化中，艺术家在混沌中体会自然，叶非叶，花非花，形也好，光也好，都在流动中，没有什么是不可变化的。绘画既要超越现实，又要回归自然。在她看来，画萝卜，理所当然要抱着听，无听之以耳而听之以心，无听之以心而听之以气。画家要走到自然的内心里去，而不是抄摹自然的表面。当直面这样的自然时，她有时会感动到落泪。

钟蜀珩 渔港之夜纸本彩墨 97.5×105cm 1980

她的每一次创作都是与自然的一次新的对话，都是一个新的开始，无成例可循。“我画画笨，没有明确的语言风格，画画时顾不上想这些问题。每次画画都是看着对象感受。对着空白的画布，油然而生敬畏之感。心中也是空白，没有现成的绘画语言和风格，每次面对一个对象，都是重新开始，完全是全新的”。钟先生如此分享她的创作“经验”——与梅洛庞蒂笔下的塞尚和贾科梅蒂类似，尽管已经掌握了娴熟的技法，每次作画却如毫无经验的初学者。

从中央美院附中到中央工艺美院，钟先生接触到了两种不同的艺术教学传统，尤其是读研期间，那时的中央工艺美院，迎来了建校后第二个黄金发展时期。庞薰琹平反昭雪，满怀热情重走光华之路，张仃倡导毕加索加城隍庙，吴冠中堂堂正正拿起画笔，进入人生中最辉煌的创作时期。钟先生随吴冠中学习，耳濡目染，近距离感受先生刚烈如火的艺术激情。吴冠中遗憾于她不够狂放，然柳贵乎垂，不垂则可无柳，每个人都有自己的天性。钟先生温和质朴，外柔内刚，不喜欢强势的、人为的东西，喜欢在自然而然之处发现奇特之处，习惯于慢工出细活。她在色彩方面有极强的天赋，但是她从不卖弄，甚至经常产生自我怀疑。在漫长的自我搏斗式的创作过程中，寻常之物终究变得不同寻常。

钟蜀珩 圣诞卡布面丙烯 81×100cm 2005

丙烯画《圣诞卡》（2005）是一幅自画像，看似再现了日常的、琐屑的生活场景，却处处充满了不寻常。读信人似乎重新回到了往昔，周围的环境既真实又不真实，人薄如纸，纸透如光，流光溢彩。这幅画的动机，来自于远方朋友寄来的折纸贺卡，贺卡前后翻转的平面构成了画面的核心，向上翻转的桌面加强了整幅画的平面感，同时又形成了一种环绕式的构图，使得贺卡上的鸽子展翅欲飞。看惯了马蒂斯、毕加索画风的人，对于这种平面化的空间处理方式或许不会感觉陌生，但这幅画真正不同寻常之处，在于细微的笔触、不连贯的线条、微妙的色彩明度与渐变。据说，百雅轩做了26版才将它复制成版画，这就是它既抢眼又耐看的原因。

在明显带有传奇色彩的《马头琴的传说》（2013）中，最吸引我们的首先不是文学叙事，而是温润如玉、细致入微的色调。在心理距离上，它与我们若即若离，如同一件随身携带的宝玉，在近距离的把玩中，显出远方的神秘与奇异。这种温润如玉的感觉，在1976年创作于云南的油画作品《弹口弦》中已经形成，那一年是中国历史上天翻地覆的一年，而这幅画却如此平静地将永恒与神圣赐予了满目疮痍的大地。了解她的刘巨德先生如此评价说，“她的画平凡奇特，朴实耐看，优雅，高贵，有时带些忧郁，重视境界，无论是画萝卜，牧羊女，还是自画像……她画画慢，是柔性的，但也很刚烈，在宁静中有一种升华。她的感悟不是书上来的，而是直觉中来的。80年代初读研究生时，她说了一句话，‘画一定要有宇宙感’，使我如遇天启。她的画，抽象是骨头，色彩是肌肤，外面是具象的，隐含的是抽象的，在似与不似之间，在超自然与自然之间，在微妙与微茫之间……”

刘先生谦虚地说，在很多方面钟先生都是他的老师，而钟先生却更为谦逊地说，迄今为止，她想画的画一张都没有画出来。两位先生所选择的艺术道路不尽相同，作品风貌也有较大的差异，但在精神追求方面却有异曲同工之处。读两位先生的画，感受到的不仅有形式美、装饰美、抽象美，还能直观地感受到这些美诞生的缘由。无论是刘先生还是钟先生的画，人们看了以后都不会简单地说，“哦，这是中央工艺的风格”，而是首当其冲地感受到它们的真挚和独一无二，进而感到它们是从一个延续的传统、从某种更为博大的本源中生长出来的。刘先生将艺术理解为“替天行道”，在混沌中开天辟地、开物成务。道之为物，惟恍惟惚。惚兮恍兮，其中有象。恍兮惚兮，其中有物。而钟先生的艺术创作，则更像是一种舒缓的呼吸运动，竭力使人的短促的呼吸与自然的绵长的呼吸达到协调，同时又在一呼一吸之间，让观者听见艺术家的心跳，感受到春风十里的人间温情。

陈岸瑛（作者系清华大学美术学院艺术史论系主任）

——

Her Paintings in between Breaths

Chen Anying, Dean of Department of Art History,

Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University

One day in July, I visited the studio of Ms. Zhong Shuheng and Mr. Liu Jude in the mountains. The studio is built on the mountain with steps leading to it, adjacent to the former residence of Mr. Zhang Ding. It is well hidden by plants and trees in a steep location in the hills. In the wake of the ten years' turmoil of the Culture Revolution, Liu Jude and his wife Zhong Shuheng were admitted to the post-graduate program under the instruction of Pang Xunqi and Wu Guanzhong. They came back from Yunnan to their alma mater and joined the masters who still had strong aspiration for art. Together they walked on Guanghua Road again (literally the "road of light and glory", where the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts was located). Guanghua Road is an unaccomplished cause of art and design in the history of new China. It is dedicated to beautifying people's life, founded on formal studies. It integrates ancient and modern, Chinese and Western cultures and arts to explore a new path for the rejuvenation of Chinese culture. Now that the accomplished old gentlemen have passed away one after another, and what they have founded has become heritage of the teaching traditions in the Academy. Their spiritual heritage remains alive and continues to be developed and keeps yielding new fruits. For decades, Liu Jude and Zhong Shuheng consciously guarded this spiritual heritage through their diligent art practice. They brazed and cultivated new fields for the spiritual homeland of this nation.

As Chinese poem goes, a mountain is known for the deity in it, not its height; the water is spirited by the dragon in it, not by being deep. The studio of the two masters is not big. It feels even a bit cramped. But the atmosphere is full of devotion to work. When Zhong paints, she would arrange the paint and tools very neatly, and set up an orderly and quiet surrounding before she begins to paint. Master Zhong says this is important for her to be more focused and organized in painting. Two sets of oil paintings just finished were standing in the studio. A three-piece set painting occupies the main wall, which depicts a green, glittering lotus pond in the summer. Another painting was standing against another wall, depicting the grassland studded with blooming Heloniopsis. The green tone is not easy to command and demands extraordinary patience. Ms. Zhong spent a lot of time on these two sets of works. Sometimes there was not much obvious progress for an entire day. She was dealing with some details of the color relationship. "The lotus gives me the feeling of holiness. There is something Buddhist in it. Lotus contains infinite vitality. I have seen a lot of lotus ponds, including the vast lotus lake in Iowa in the US. Lotus pond has a vast atmosphere and contains endless living things in it. The lights change constantly. The different shades of green reflect each other and contain each other. I always want to express this feeling. But it is not possible through sketching in front of the live scenery." Ms. Zhong looked closely at her work and talked about her experience in painting until the sun had tilted and did not shine directly on the canvas. Then she let us view the painting at ease.

In a closed-up view, each detailed part is composed with subtle and abstract color relationships. Some are like Monet's large-sized water lily paintings. In his later years, Monet had lamented to the visiting art dealer Rene Gimpel that, "I am trying to grasp the colors in a quick moment. I want to present those elusive invisible things. This is also my own problem. Light has disappeared, but the color is still there. What should I do? It is really a headache. Color, no matter what color, lives for only a few seconds, sometimes at most three or four minutes. How can I catch them in three or four minutes? When the colors are gone, you have to stop! Oh, it is killing me. Painting really kills me!" In the integration of Chinese and Western painting, Ms. Zhong has the same feelings as the Impressionists. From Delacroix to Impressionism, Western painting deviated from the classical painting system based on sketch as the cornerstone. It gave colors independent values of emotional expression and ultimately transformed into complete abstraction – music of colors. Ms. Zhong also understands colors in the sense of music, and takes the inner structure of painting as abstract. But she never gave up the figurative factors in painting, or the natural and Eastern practice of quiet observation and meditation.

In her view, music is the art of art; music does not rely on concrete images and it is the most rigorous of artistic systems; painting is more like composing; there are the leading melodies, Crescendos and Pianos. The painter has to spend a lot of time in the adjusting of the tonal relationships of a picture and this will not work without abstract concept; in her classes on colors, she trains the students on abstract painting without the interference of figures; the still objects she sets up demonstrate an abstract composition. Of course, just like her teacher Wu Guanzhong, Zhong sticks to the basic idea that the kite should not be broken away from the thread. In her view, abstract painting should always echo with certain feelings of people toward nature in order to have the impact on the viewers. She believes that painting is a graphic illusion that should emphasize its affinity with humans. Painting should be true to life yet not identical. In reality there is not a pond exactly like this. But the one in the picture makes people see a more vivid, more real pond. This lotus pond has a depth in the plane surface of the canvas. It is subtle in a form of chaos, like ancient landscape paintings that walk the viewer into the depths of nature.

In her article "Seeking the Return to Nature", Ms. Zhong wrote that "Western art emphasizes the principles of science. In particular, the study of visual principles in modern art enables Western artists to achieve very strong visual effects both in terms of modeling and color expression. Oriental art is influenced by poetry and philosophy. The imagery brings about experiences of a changing movement like the roaming clouds or flowing water. It seeks harmony with the living spirit of nature. The realm of oriental art is vast and profound. It is culturally very inclusive. I worship the aesthetic state of oriental art, and also acknowledge the critical role of scientific principles of art in artistic expression." In her teaching and research, Ms. Zhong advocates Western color system since Impressionism and creatively clarifies the importance of lightness as the skeleton of colors. And she pays attention to the application of color science in art practice. But these rational ideas shall in the end serve the sensibility. In addition to his or her innate personal temperament, an artist's sensibility is also associated with the cultural soil that nurtures him or her. Mondrian and Kandinsky also embraced the mystic theosophy. But such mysticism derived from the cosmological concepts of Euclid and Plato. It interprets the origin of the universe as a mathematical order, which is different from the Chinese understanding of a constantly changing universe.

On a road to the integration of Chinese and Western art, Ms. Zhong actually takes the stand of "Chinese as the system and Western as the application". Although she shares the aspiration of Cezanne, Van Gogh, Matisse and Kandinsky, she is closer to the ancient mountain and water painters in her heart. This makes her "Lotus Pond" different from Monet's "Les Nymphéas". She has a taste of freehand ink and wash. In "Seeking the Return to Nature" she sincerely praises the landscape painting of the Song Dynasty. "The Song Dynasty painters paid attention to observing nature and life. The mountain and water paintings of Song Dynasty are close with nature. But its magnificent and deep spatial effect does not rely on scientific perspective technique. It neither depicted the sense of light through lights and shades of naturalism. Instead it applied a very mature aesthetic concept to render a 'relaxed and mysterious roaming of the heart' spatial expressiveness which reaches out in height, depth and horizon. It expressed the spirit of self oblivion in harmony with nature in a fulfilled sense. This is the most wonderful and beautiful state in art." The "Lotus Pond" also has a strong sense of light. But Ms. Zhong stressed that this is not the natural light. Neither was the lotus pond she painted the product of live sketching.

Under the influence of the Soviet Russian realism, live sketching used to be regarded as the rescue of mountain and water painting in China. Wu Guanzhong's "House Moving sketch method" and his emphasis on "formal beauty" and "abstract beauty" are superficially a shift from Western classicalism toward Western modernism, yet in a deeper sense it is the return to oriental aesthetics. Ms. Zhong used to follow Mr. Wu to do field sketching. Mr. Wu's unusual "sketching method" left her a strong influence. The scenery and still life painted in the West are in a sense dead and still objects while the live sketching in the mind of Chinese, in a certain sense, tries to "take" the soul of the object. "Lotus Pond" is not detached from real lotus ponds that the painter had seen and experienced. But it is not a product of live sketching of the scenery, nor is it a photographic copying. It is a reflection in the heart that is formed in the long process of life's experience. What is fantastic is that this reflection in the heart is not static. It is dynamic, roaming and changing. And the corresponding color and space relationships are also colorful and dynamic. Such artistic creation is accomplished in the draw of a breath, in the inhalation of the Qi of nature and the breathing out of formal beauty. "Painting is a job that is done with an honest heart in a lonely state," she said in "Seeking the Return to Nature", "When I was painting, I was trying to use the language of painting as much as possible to dialogue with nature. Even if it was just a beam of light or a feather brought by a breeze, I want to tell it how I feel about it and understand its soul. I am very happy that I can communicate with nature and be able to experience life existence in the process of my life." Here, nature does not exist as the object of a rational concern. Human itself is a part of nature. The relationship between humans and nature is communicative.

Ms. Zhong treats "still life" and the "models" in the same way. Mr. Liu was very impressed about how she painted a radish. "When I painted the radish, I hold it in my hand. Its heavy and translucent, white body shows a natural vividness and nobleness bestowed by nature. A little green leave stands on top of the body. The radish is round and simple in shape. It feels cool, mild and smells good". (Zhong Shuheng, Follow the Heart to Paint) Critics often say that Cezanne is painting like a blind man, that he transcends the visual centralism of Western classical painting and began to express tactile and weight with painting. As an oriental painter, Ms. Zhong does not have such taboo. To feel an object with multiple senses and from the heart and soul is an inherent endowment for her. In "Seeking the Return to Nature" she once concluded that "if the mind is to guide the vision, the observation of nature should not be confined to the eyes." In Western aesthetics, similar meanings are often clumsily expressed as "synaesthesia", "collective senses" or "imagination". The world's appearance is founded on senses. Artistic image is the processing and synthesis of materials collected by senses. In oriental aesthetics, all things have reflections on the mind, human and all things breathe the same air. It is all natural. All things are self-content if we quietly observe them. Observing here is not just to watch with eyes and then process with the brain. It means that when the eyes are open, they see all things immediately. A poem which Ms. Zhong likes describes it this way: "lights in the mountain enlighten the character of birds, and reflections in a lake empty the mind of a man."

She observes “still life” with the mind and she does the same to the "models". When she is doing a live painting of a model, the model is free to move around. Oil painting "Xiao Chuan" (1993) is about a girl playing the guitar. The girl is a frequent guest of her family. She would chat, play the guitar and eat snacks. The most touching moment is when she is immersed in music. This painting not only caught the moment when Xiao Chuan was playing the guitar, but also captured the melodic flow of light through subtle changes of colors. Ms. Zhong says that people come from the original Qi; they are a part of nature; they are alive and nature is alive. Qi generates all things. The universe and all things in it are dynamic and flowing. Artists experience nature in chaos. Leaves are not leaves. Flowers are not flowers. Either form or light is in a flowing state. Nothing is unchangeable. Painting has to transcend reality and then return to nature. In her eyes, to paint a radish, one should of course hold it and listen to it. Listen to it not with the ear, but with the heart, and then listen with Qi. The artist has to walk into the heart of nature instead of copying the superficial things in nature. Sometimes she is moved to tears when faced with such nature.

Every art practice of hers is a new dialogue with nature. It is a new beginning, having no examples to follow. "I am clumsy at painting. I do not have a clear language style. When I paint I have no time to attend to these questions. Every time I paint, I just watch the object and feel. Facing the blank canvas arouses a sense of awe and respect. The heart is blank with no ready-made painting language or styles in it. Facing an object is a completely new start every time." This is Ms. Zhong's "experience" in art practice - similar to Cezanne and Giacometti as described by Merleau-Ponty. She is like an inexperienced beginner every time, although she has skillfully mastered all techniques.

From the Middle School of Central Academy of Fine Arts to the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, Ms. Zhong came into contact with two different art education traditions, especially during her post-graduate study when the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts witnessed its second golden age after its establishment. Pang Xunqi's name was cleaned of accusations in the Culture Revolution and returned to the academy full of enthusiasm. Zhang Ding was advocating the Picasso Plus City God Temple. Wu Guanzhong was picking up the paintbrush with dignity and about to enter the prime time of his art creation. Ms. Zhong studied with Wu Guanzhong. She saw and heard a lot and felt the vehement artistic passion of Mr. Wu in a close distance. Wu Guanzhong found it a pity that Zhong was not passionate enough. However, a willow tree will not become precious if without drooping branches. Each person has her own character. Ms. Zhong is gentle and simple. She has a soft appearance and resolute heart. She does not like aggressive or artificial things. She loves to find amazing things in nature involuntarily and work slowly to achieve a fine product. Zhong is distinctively gifted in colors. But she never shows off and sometimes even doubts herself. Her art creation is a long self-struggle process and the ordinary things become unusual under her paintbrush.

The acrylic painting "Christmas Card" (2005) is a self-portrait, seemingly reproducing a common, trivial scene in life. But it is unusual in many ways. The receiver of the letter seems to have returned to the past. The surrounding environment is real and unreal at the same time. The people are as thin as paper. The paper glows with light and colors are flowing in the picture. The motive of this painting comes from a folded greeting card from a distant friend. The unfolding plane surface of the greeting card composes the centre of the picture. The flipped desktop strengthens the plane quality of the whole picture. It also forms a circling composition and makes the pigeon so vivid that it is about to fly. Viewers who are familiar with Matisse and Picasso are not strange to such plane approach of a space. What really unusual about this picture lies in the fine strokes, incoherent lines, subtle brightness and gradient of the colors. It is said that Bai Ya Xuan made 26 versions to finally create a perfect print copy. This is why it is so eye-catching and stands careful appreciation at the same time.

In the obviously legendary painting "Legend of the Horse Head Fiddle" (2013), what attracts us the most is not its literary narration, but the warm, gentle, moist and subtle color tones. It is psychologically both close and far away from us. Like a well fondled piece of jade carried about, it looks distant and mystic when we hold it in the hand. This kind of warm and beautiful feeling has already taken shape in her 1976 oil painting "Playing the String Instrument", created in Yunnan. That was a turbulent year in modern Chinese history. Yet this painting bestowed eternity and sacredness to a devastated land in such a peaceful way. Mr. Liu Jude, who knows her well, said that "her painting is ordinary and peculiar, simple yet with lingering charm, elegant, noble, sometimes with a touch of melancholy. It emphasizes spiritual quality no matter what the subject is, a radish, a shepherdess or a self-portrait ... She paints slowly, appears to be mild but resolute and violent. It is sublimation in tranquility. Her perceptions are not from textbooks but from intuitions. When she was a post-graduate student in the early 1980s, she said that 'to paint has to have a universal sense'. This was very enlightening to me. In her painting, the abstract is the skeleton; colors are the flesh and skin. The exterior is figurative and the abstract is concealed. It is between being true to life and not true to life, between the supernatural and the natural, between the subtle and the micro vastness…"

Mr. Liu humbly said that in many ways Ms. Zhong is his teacher. Ms. Zhong is even more modest in saying that so far she has not painted anything she really wanted to paint. The two artists choose different paths in art. Their styles are also widely different from each other. But they share the same spiritual aspiration. Viewing and studying the paintings of both artists brings us not only the formal beauty, decorative beauty and abstract beauty, but also directly reveals to us the reasons behind the birth of such beauty. Anyone seeing the art of Mr. Liu or Ms. Zhong will not simply say that "Oh, this is typical from the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts!" They would instantly feel the sincerity and uniqueness of these artworks, and then realize that they originate from a continuous tradition and certain greater start point. Mr. Liu believes that art is acting for the Dao of heaven; it opens a world in the chaos and cultivates things into a world of life. The Dao, when embodied in objects, often looks ambiguous and perplexing. In such trance hide all things. And Ms. Zhong's artistic creation is more like a soothing breathing movement, trying to harmonize the short breaths of humans with the long and constant breathing of nature. While in between the draws of the breaths, the audience hears the artist's heartbeats and feels the human warmth like a gentle breeze in the spring.

来源：TAIMAY