A master of the land

In assessing western artists, the historical influence of art movements and the links to societies are important in shaping the styles of the artists. Chinese artists, however, are not usually appreciated this way, and a lot of times they are looked at without a social context.

Ink paintings, for example, are the mainstay of Chinese modern art and for many who choose to work on painting landscape, they usually embark on a long journey, trekking up and down famous historical or touristed places in the huge Chinese continent, in order to put the scenery on paper. Their attitude seems a mixture of self-abandonment tinged with free-as-a-bird indulgence. Hsiao Hai-chun (蕭海春) is one of those ink painting masters, deemed a national treasure, who has traveled extensively to work on landscapes.

Hsiao was born in 1944 in Shanghai. Since 1967, he had been traveling to other parts of China, such as the Yangtze River or as far as the marginal southwest province of Yunnan and the northwest of Kansu Province, on the way to the Silk Road.

Apparently a loner, Hsiao is a quiet artist who doesn't socialize much or leave his studio. He is known for his landscape works, which can be seen at this exhibition, and he is known for being full of creativity. He enjoys using dots and lines to compose his paintings and his eye for detail, whether it be with the leaves, rocks or other natural images, is revealed through his extremely delicate touches.

Chinese ink painting is a very unique and popular art form. It had reached its peak in the Sung and Yuan dynasties and then enjoyed a revival through the May Fourth Movement of the early 20th century, which produced numerous masters such as Hsiao.

Hsiao's solo exhibition is comprised of colored Chinese landscapes on a particularly precious paper called "gold sparkled rice paper" (撒金萱紙). Bits of gold dapple the long sheet of rice paper, mounted on a scroll, and create an ethereal, misty feel to the natural scenes. The expensive rice paper is made in China, tailored to the Japanese market and is used as a favorite of Hsiao. And befitting the grandeur of Hsiao's scenes, that's real gold used in the paper.