YAU Wing -fung 邱榮豐
Looming Scenery III 若境 03
2019
Ink and color on paper
136 × 59 cm

"Viewing" Sceneries

The spatial expression has been emphasized in Chinese landscape painting (shan shui hua). The spatial relationship of the object is “constructed” through the painter’s ingenuity. The concept of “space” (the word “space” originates from western, which is a philosophy proposition with multi-meaning.)refers to “world view” (yu zhou guan) in China. “yu” represents space and “zhou” represents “time”. Therefore, the concept of “time and space” is essentially imprinted on the spatial expression of Chinese landscape painting. “Viewing the small from the big” (yi da guan xiao) is the method to express the relationship between time and space in ancient landscape painting. It is a reflection of psychological consciousness of the painter who faces the objective scenery. The development of my artworks have been accompanied by the concept of “view” (guan) which refers to the expression of spatial imagination through the “observation”. It is also a psychological process of integrating my imagery and imagination, which is different from “seeing” - a reflection of objective vision - reconstructing realism. On the other hand, I treat “view” as a way of viewing. Some source materials like aerial images, photography and satellite images provide various ways to obtain comprehensive vision nowadays. I have also tried to borrow from the remote-sensing images as the visual vocabulary in my painting. Intellectual and logical ways are definitely not the principal to depict the spiritual world in landscape painting. However,  the spatial expression of subject spirit and imagery can be manifested through the integration between nature and human, including all subjective consciousness, aesthetic of form as well as the depicted object  by the painter. As Wang Wei (c. 415-453), “Paintings” said: “it is limited to appreciate the landscape by only using the eyes. The mind should be released from the narrow sight and the eyes, and imagine the scenery inside the mind.”

In short, “view” is the reflection of my psychological consciousness and feeling when I am facing the object. “Far” is the intention of my spirit when I am depicting the object. The concept of both “view” and “far” reflect the expression of space in the artworks. “Transition Scene” as a proposition among “view” and “far” means that changing situation to express the changing scene in various situations. “Transition” refers to the changing and moving time. “Scene” involves the reflection of mental consciousness and space. The depiction of space-time relationship will be shown in my two-dimension or three-dimension artworks by integrating the compositions and the angle of the object. Trying to create out of the boundary of previous landscape paintings and constructing the visual “patterns” in spatial aesthetic of ink, experience the different notions and concepts between form, spatial and temporal dimension, moreover, to explore the potential relationship between the “viewing” methods, content and external form.

中國山水畫一直講究空間表現，並透過畫家匠心「經營」對象的空間關係。中國的「空間」概念即是「宇宙觀」（「空間」一詞本源於西方，屬多義的哲學命題）-「宇」代表著空間，「宙」代表著時間，因此，「時空」的概念本質上烙印於中國山水畫的空間表現之上。古代畫家透過「以大觀小」的統攝之法來表現山水的時空關係，呈現出來是畫家面對客觀景物時心理意識的反映。我的創作圍繞著「觀」的概念發展，當中的「觀」指透過觀察表達對山水的空間想像，是一個整合意象和想象的心理過程，與「看」－客觀視覺的反射－寫實再現－有所區別。另一方面，我亦視「觀」如觀景的方式。現代能透過鳥瞰角度、攝影以至衛星影像等方式獲得更全面的視野（如我有意鑑遙感圖像作為畫面的「圖式」元素），為「經營位置」提供更多維度的空間想像。當然，山水畫的精神並非以知性思維與邏輯性的方式來看待自然世界，而是通過山水與人的交契合一，包括一切主觀感受、形式美感以至描繪對象的結構表現等，彰顯人的主體精神及意象化的空間表現。正如王微（415－453）《敘畫》所言：「目有所極，故所見不周。於是乎以一管之筆，擬太虛之體；以判軀之狀，盡寸眸之明。」

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概捨而言，「觀」是我面對對象時呈現的心理意識及感受；「遠」是我描繪對象時的精神指向，兩者均體現在作品的空間表現之上。在「觀」和「遠」的意義下，我以「渡景」作為命題，表達不同語境下的視覺經驗及情景變遷。「渡」意謂過渡、變遷，蘊含時間的遷移，呈現個人的心理意識；「景」即景色、情境，是空間意識的反映。作品透過平面或三維的空間配置，結合畫面佈局，描寫對象的時空關係，試圖從前人對山水畫的視覺經驗中脫邁出來，把視覺「圖式」及觀念置陳於水墨的空間美學之上，期望體現對時間、空間與形式的不同概念，以及探討觀看方式、畫面內容與外在形式的潛在關係。