Affliction is Bodhi 1

作品賞析

CHENG Cheng-Huang’s Affliction is Bodhi 1 is a water-and-ink painting on a wooden board carved using woodworking tools. This lends it the charm of contrasting shades of ink as well as the three-dimensionality of the tool marks. In this image, a reclining head floats on the water, creating ripples in the pond. A barren tree sprouts from the head, forming a perch for birds. With the birds in the tree and the silhouetted figures under it, the head appears to be an island bearing the vulgar concerns of the mortal world. To the artist, the tree trunk represents the intractable troubles of the vulgar world. But if we can gain a full understanding of the vulgar world, we can attain enlightenment and cleanse our inner being. In this piece, the figures in the pond are serenely contemplating the vulgar world, like Zen practitioners detached from vulgarity. Even when facing trouble, they remain undisturbed, their souls unyielding and composed.