Right Now, Silence is Better than Words

作品賞析

LIAO Wen-Hao, an artist who draws nourishment from the works of famous painters over the generations, turns the beauty of model copies into brush and ink creations. He also tries to combine traditional landscapes with the human figure, pushing contemporary brush and ink painting into a whole new form. In Right Now, Silence is Better Than Words, three recluses sit beneath a large tree. They have human legs but the upper parts of their bodies are the shape of mountain ridges and Suregada trees. They are playing a stringed instrument, reciting poems and songs, seemingly at leisure and unrestrained. In his composition for this painting, LIAO Wen-Hao emphasizes calligraphic brush strokes and seeks the humanist spirit of landscape painting. In terms of media, he also exhibits innovative elements. He does not use the Xuan paper often seen in Chinese painting and calligraphy but selects a scroll of exceedingly thin silk on which he applies layer after layer of ink, creating an image the radiates a feeling of leisure and comfort that blends with nature.