>> 2006-2012

The series “Painting is painting is painting is painting is ?” has been ongoing since 2006. There are 13 pieces of artwork in this series presently.

Beginning with the contemplation of the “medium” – painting – I have explored the boundaries between media, between image carrier (canvas) and image, between artwork and exhibition place. Media are the starting point of my work. The standard function of the materials of traditional media has been transformed, presenting a paradoxical relationship between media and materials. There is also a reciprocal switching between media. From the appearance and the process of interaction between media, I am trying to explore the definition of the artworks, materials and media, and the connection between them. The expressive function of media will not be emphasized, but the boundaries of media themselves will be blurred, going further into examining the logic of the creation of artworks. These ambiguous relationships and phenomena will provide an environmental experience to promote profound introspection.

Without using the brush and colour, it employs the canvas – originally the image carrier – as the major material to create pictures. The marks made by movements and actions (for example, incising, unweaving, pasting and overlapping etc.) on the canvas are the components of images. Also, creation is not limited to the front of a “painting”; the back of the painting and canvas are equally important. Similarly, painting is no longer confined to a plane surface; the three dimensions and depth of an image are no more an illusion, but substantially occupy the available space. The white image places the work in a state of ambiguity – whether it is a completed painting or a carrier awaiting the adding of lines, forms, and colours. Moreover, the white painting suggests that the work has extended from the scope of the frame to the white space of the exhibition venue, making it part of the work. This concept is further strengthened by the employment of white canvas to “draw” the architectural structures of the venue. It is needless to use the expressions of perspective and chiaroscuro to reconstruct shape and distance. A “real space”painting was created, enabling the audience to enter the work in person. It seeks to obscure the definition and boundary of artistic creation – painting is a painting, a sculpture, an installation and also an exhibition venue, which all are the art media carrying concepts.

The works:

1.   Painting is painting is painting is painting is … Mark (2006)

2.   Painting is painting is painting is painting is … Addition and Subtraction (2007)

3.   Painting is painting is painting is painting is … (2008)

4.   Painting is painting is painting is painting is … Front and Rear (2008)

5.   Painting is painting is painting is painting is … Composition (2008)

6.   Painting is painting is painting is painting is painting is ……  (2008)

7.   Painting is painting is painting is painting is … Space (2011)

8.   Painting is painting is painting is painting is … Macau Ox warehouse (2012)

9.   Painting is painting is painting is painting is … AFA Beijing (2012)

10. Painting is painting is painting is painting is … Relationship (2012)

11. Painting is painting is painting is painting is … Depth (2012)

12. Painting is painting is painting is painting is … behind the Canvas (2012)

13. Painting is painting is painting is painting is … Frame (2012)