Zheng Liu

An artist sees the world in a different way from the ordinary people. While the latter tend to focus on the plot and logic, the former fixes his eyes more on color, light and shadow. It is normal, though not in an absolute sense. As a result, a common landscape may, through the lens of an artist, ap...

An artist sees the world in a different way from the ordinary people. While the latter tend to focus on the plot and logic, the former fixes his eyes more on color, light and shadow. It is normal, though not in an absolute sense. As a result, a common landscape may, through the lens of an artist, appears dynamic, attractive and mysterious.

What I admire is an aesthetics of minimalism, which is more a philosophy than an aesthetic taste. To extract what can touch our heartstring from the complex visual images and restore the world to simplicity are what I am pursuing. For painting, detailed portrait resembles a drama, bustled with activities; and simple depicting is like a single song, unfolding its charm independently.

The boundless sea and vast sky, in my eyes, are sending a message of freedom. Proceeding from this enlightenment, what an artist pursues is not to imitate what he has seen, but to recreate a landscape with his inspiration. That is why all his attention is directed to his works. The pleasure of imitation of the image is meaningless for him now, and only the aesthetic enjoyment of applying his genius can satisfy him. In this stage, an artist has transcended the representation and reached the depth of spirit. The so-called drawing nature consists in nowhere but the subtle materialization of an artist’s concepts and ideas. A free command and application of his genius is what helps an artist enjoy more freedom than a photographer.

A poetic mood oriented from “unpredictable”, supramundane and spiritual.

The beauty of music lies in its flowing and intangible nature. To musicalize a painting, an abstract beauty should be refined from the representation. As melody and rhythm constitute the beauty of music, the ingenious combination of light and color adds a musical charm to a painting.

A painting appeals to me is not in the style of mountain-shaking power but of ride-the-wind leisure.