Wang Shanfeng's artistic life - I wonder if everyone has ever felt this way
Xu Hao's azalea bonsai work "Golden Years"
[Bonsai Enthusiast's Reflections]
I wonder if everyone has ever felt this way?
Written by|@Zhang Xianjue, Wuhan, Hubei
Recommended images|Erwa Snapshots
Once you fall in love with this bonsai thing, a person from then on has a little less leisure, a little less philistine distraction, less of a boundary between busy and idle through spring, summer, autumn and winter, fewer mundane people and mundane matters, fewer chances to travel far from home, much less time to help family, less sleep that should not have been reduced, fewer wandering glances amid the crowd; and one more measure of focus, one more thing to worry about, one more thing to entrust one's hopes to, one more expense, a few more close friends, one more reason to come home on time, one more corner piled full of pots and bowls, a few more experiences of scorching heat and bitter cold, one more responsibility, a few more stubborn obsessions, one more wonderful world. Bonsai, I accompany your cycle of rebirth with my life, sweating for you, shedding tears for you, getting hurt for you, because it is entirely willingly that I bind myself in a cocoon of my own passion, even if there is no one to carry it on, everything is let go. Only because the process of loving it is too fascinating, I have tried and cannot put it down, truly cannot put it down.
Wang Shanfeng's artistic life
Original text and images|Wang Hong, Ge Lisong
In Gubei Town, Jinzhai County, Lu'an City, Anhui Province, there is a middle-aged man named Wang Shanfeng. Perhaps thanks to the nurturing of this land of lovely mountains and clear waters and the immersion of its profound cultural heritage, over the past twenty years, relying on his deep love of life and his obsession with the art of Chinese painting, he has used rustic tree roots to create root art, paper-cutting, root-art Chinese painting and picture stone works rich in traditional Chinese cultural character.
I met Wang Shanfeng at an award ceremony of a root art, curious stone, bonsai and orchid association. The impression he gave was that of a simple, honest man of few words.
On the weekend I went to Mazongling, and on my way back in the afternoon I decided to take a detour to see his "Art Studio". We saw that the entire suite, inside and out, was piled full of his works!
Wang Shanfeng loved art since childhood, especially painting. In the year he was about to graduate from high school, his parents passed away one after another, which kept him from entering the halls of university. In an era before reform and opening up, he toiled and hurried in faraway places to survive, and the exhaustion of body and mind left him no inclination to talk about art.
From his root art forms we can see that he has unique insights into root art, and he has summed it up as: "Art has no end, nature has its wonders."
He said: "These spiritual tree roots let my dull mind sprout wings of imagination, to pursue the realm of unity between heaven and man."
I think this work can be compared with the Han dynasty "Storytelling Figurine" of China; it gathers the exaggerated, comical and humorous characteristics of the "Storytelling Figurine"!
Its form cannot help but remind me of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's 1893 work "The Scream", also known as "The Cry".
When we overlay the three works together, the tension of the root art becomes even more apparent!
The raw material of root art is tree roots and stump bases. Although they can be found everywhere in mountainous areas, finding a satisfactory tree root is no easy matter; it requires a discerning eye, a clever mind and skillful hands. Over the past twenty years his footprints have covered the mountains and ridges of the Dabie Mountains. The root art stump bases he has sought out include enormous pieces weighing hundreds or thousands of jin, as well as pocket-sized small pieces that can be held in the palm. The painstakingly sought tree roots also need to be read with the heart. How to recognize a tree root and understand a tree root likewise requires time and energy.
"Abundant Fruits"
In his works, whether root art or patterned stones, he seems to have a special fondness for "Dance", and they always convey the agility of a dancer!
Paper-cutting originated in the Shang dynasty. Paper-cutting requires a foundation in printmaking and Chinese painting. Wang Shanfeng first cut various "double happiness" characters for weddings and celebrations, then studied designs about daily life, until he cut flowers, birds and figures. With red paper, black paper and cyan-blue paper he cuts out one lifelike work after another.
For the tree roots he has sought out, how to organically fuse their external beauty with their inner beauty, that is, to blend his own heart with nature, he emphasizes the pursuit of nature. And he has summed it up: from nature, taken from nature, displaying nature, appreciating nature, even more natural, turning waste into treasure.
If paper-cutting is one of his supreme skills, then turning discarded tree bark into treasure and integrating it with calligraphy can be called yet another supreme skill!
Over the past twenty years he has constantly explored and practiced. It is precisely by relying on this persistence that he creates one work after another. He said, "Nature is my teacher, giving me endless inspiration, letting my limited knowledge find artistic inspiration!"
"I am a farmer, and I love art even more!"
"I seek roots, and I never forget roots!"
This article is selected from "Jinzhai Micro Tourism", copyright belongs to the original author
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