廖美蘭的部落格

An imagination that is beyond the reality

  Liao, Mei-Lan

This work of Chinese ink painting was painted in 2005. It is 180 centimeters long and 90 centimeters wide. The paper used is rice paper.

The old, mottled[1], moribund[2] things are always very attractive to me. So, ancient buildings, fallen leaves, old door planks and old trees often appear in my paintings. Two years ago, I went to Penghu for a tour. One day, I passed through a ruin[3]; there was a withered[4] wood lying on the ground. It was about 50 centimeters long. Its surfaces were carved with the marks of times and I was attracted by that appearance profoundly[5]. I then took it back home. Since then, the withered wood has become one of the elements of my creation. I created several works in succession[6] related to that withered wood. This is one of them, called "An imagination that is beyond the reality ".

Regarding to the composition, it can be regarded as the "L "style. The forest is at the bottom of the picture and they are arranged horizontally[7]. The withered wood slopes[8] about 45 degrees and flies to the moon. Under the normal situation, this withered wood should be smaller than any tree. But in this picture, I painstakingly[9] give a converse[10] arrangement to create a shocking effect of vision, attempting to increase the vigor[11] and strength of the work.

Concerning perspective, we can see obviously that the size of this withered wood changes from thick to thin and the vanishing point is out of the picture on the right. I do not put much emphasis on the color and the variation of light and shadow. But you can see a little change of light and shade, and have the feeling of three dimensional spaces.

This is a monochromatic[12] painting.  Most part of the picture plane was painted brown.  Color blue was seldom used in this painting.  I tried my best to paint this withered wood carefully, made it look as real. The forest is tranquil and stable. But the withered wood forms a diagonal[13] line which gives a sense of movement and dangerous. The sloping line not only gives the sensation of movement and also connects the forest and the moon.

Although the withered wood symbolizes old and feeble, which do not mean desperate[14]. The withered wood rising to the sky represents exactly a will of refusing to concede[15] defeat[16], a will to surpass[17] hardship[18] and difficulty. This is a portrayal[19] of my mood, just like the protagonist[20] in the book of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull[21] " who pursues his ideal and ignores others' opinions. More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loves to fly. Exactly the same as he, more than anything else, I love to paint.