THE RHYTHM OF LIFE: UNDERSTANDING MIANHUA’S ARTS

PENG Feng
Scholar, curator, Dean of the School of Art, Peking University, curator of China Pavilion for the 54th Venice

In a field where pragmatism prevails, an artist with a pure heart and a childlike innocence is indeed a rare treasure. I am deeply touched by her obsession and passion towards art. When interpreting her works, the mostly used words are love, beauty and life, which are close to extinction in the modern artistic world, or are simply objects of criticism and mockery. However, Mianhua holds them dear to her heart. She is just like a kid ignorant of worldly affairs, and expresses her true feelings with no hesitations whatsoever.

In Mianhua’s paintings, plant leaves and animal feathers freely tangle with each other to construct a mysterious space with splendid colors. Some of the images in her painting stretch to a more abstract sphere, which are interpreted as symbols of the infinite universe and the limitless vitality. Such rendering easily reminds us of “ecologism”, particularly “ecofeminism”, which tends to compare the female to Mother Nature, and emphasizes the mysterious internality and connectivity. Vortex-like pattern is a frequent theme in Mianhua’s paintings, which can be read as symbols of internality; while those randomly twisted and interwoven lines are expression of connectivity. In the perspective of ecofeminists perspective, both the female and the nature are beyond rational reasoning. They are born with an inner order and rhythm, and grow like wild life beyond the control of logos.

Mianhua’s painting process is very special. She usually starts from somewhere on the canvas. So long as there is the first stroke, the second follows, and then the third, until the final completion. She says that at many times, the painting seems to grow by itself, totally beyond her control. Color attracts color, shape evolves into shape, and step by step the picture grows into its entirety. This creative process is completely different from the rational control of male artists. Mianhua never draws draft, and exerts not much rational intervention when she paints. She just follows the call of colors and shapes, and leaves the painting to complete its natural growth. This kind of passive creation is very similar to the concept of nature by ecofeminists. It’s exactly through passive acceptance that the female and nature realize the creative transformation.

The awareness of ecology in Mianhua’s paintings is originally nurtured by the artist’s unique perception of life. When describing the growth of life, Chuang Tse said that life is pushed not by external forces, but rather by internal ones. From this sense, life is an irrational miracle which defies rational explanation. Growth of life does not need intervention by external forces, but rather love, and with enough of which, seed of life can take root, sprout and grows into a tall tree. Mianhua’s art creation follows this rule. She never forces herself into painting but patiently waits for the ideal chance and status to start an artwork. To her, painting is like giving birth to a new life, a very individual and private process. To protect such privacy, she may even seclude herself when painting.

Through Mianhua’s paintings, we are able to touch the inner power and deep secret of life, and even passion and ecstasy. Such aesthetic ecstasy is similar to religious zeal, and in this sense, Mianhua’s painting can be seen as a religion worshiping nature. Clive Bell had a metaphysical assumption when elaborating on art as a meaningful form that, just like religion, art is the pursuit of the ultimate being which transcends the secular world. Mianhua unveils this ultimate being related to life, which is a pure world detached from the earth. Contemplating on it, we can derive an unworldly happiness.

Livelihood is hard; life is magical; ecology is self-efficient. Mianhua’s art reveals to us a world of “life”. Worshipping “life” is not only the major theme of post-modern philosophy, but also a theme of Chinese traditional philosophy. Corresponding to the self-sufficient ecological system of ecological philosophy, Chinese traditional philosophy praises the robustness of life between the heaven and the earth. Mianhua’s art is not an annotation to these philosophical ideas, but rather, through visual images, she tells us her feelings and thoughts on “life”.

Kant distinguishes between free beauty and dependent beauty in his aesthetics. The former stems from form, while the latter depends on concept. The beauty of Mianhua’s works turns out to be closer to free beauty, and the aesthetic perception is generated from colors and lines of the works. However, the overall atmosphere rendered by the colors of her works appears to imply something beyond the form. It is something mysterious and metaphysical. This mysterious and metaphysical spirit derives from the magic of life itself. Mianhua’s works arouse in viewers an awareness of life, and thereby impel them to respect and love life, and to experience the intimacy and magic of life.

Wittgenstein once said that there is nothing more useful than learning to live a good life. Wittgenstein’s philosophy may be somehow difficult to comprehend. Yet we can perhaps gain the same insight from Mianhua’s works.

Beijing, November 30, 2013