HAN Xujun: Tangible Scenery: Curated by A Gai

Han Xujun: Tangible Scenery

by A Gai

Figures in Han Xujun’s paintings often seem remote, or even if to the fore, they do not look directly at viewers. This may mean that she is a timid photographer, never daring to approach the person in front, but standing far away or pressing the shutter button when the other person’s gaze moves elsewhere.
 

She feels comfortable with observation, not intervention. Be it in a small tavern, by the sea, on bank, or in mountains with deep forests, she could feel at ease and free at “other place” only. If there are people at the other place, who do not interfere, then the artist will be more free and secure.

Therefore, her paintings are neither friendly nor aloof. Without a unique genre or strange composition, it is nothing more than natural scenery, urban landscapes, and some daily portraits with small emotions. However, due to the compromised sense, the work is slightly touching, for what a loner focuses on often resonates with other loners.

She painted beautiful things, such as an orange sky, rolling mountains, tall trees in the jungle, a sea of flowers, winding paths, weeping willows, flowing waves, ice, a bonfire, diners waiting in alleys, and a bright full moon. She draws landscapes, where the branches of plants and trees are always swaying and the waves rippling. In her paintings, one can see the wind. And the “scenery” depicted by her brush, like morning, dusk, day, light, and the flying time, always makes people forget everything.

Han previously enjoyed reading comics and studied animation and comics in college. Therefore, as a professional painter, Han applies hues based on both objects and her imagination, which can be called a romantic reconstruction of “should be”. Her direct and bright color filling, and strokes with a sense of order in oil, colored pencil, and watercolor paintings, repeatedly remind people of her mood, temperament, and character. She is innocent and sometimes lively, gentle and sometimes carefree. Growing up in a thriving era, she is sometimes aloof, sometimes melancholic, and sometimes attracted by violent and magnificent dangers like hurricanes.

In an old article, I once commented on Han Xujun as follows:

Surpassing modernism and moving toward contemporary art is probably a concern for many artists today, which seems the threshold for “contemporary artists”. Without such eagerness, an artist may be at risk of being outdated, and even his or her works will be swept into a heap of musty old papers. Han should not have such worries, for she had a crush on Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Picasso, and Hockney while studying abroad. She also read Laozi, Zhuangzi, books on Buddhism, and The Book of Changes, thus becoming interested in traditional landscape painting and developing deeper insights. Rather than saying that she is transcending “principles”, it is better to say that she is not within their narrative framework. She is more concerned about the beauty of nature, the emotions of life, a bit of loneliness in the bustling world, the contentment and carefree travel through mountains, forests, or by the sea, all on the way. Art is an important but not heavy cane and side dishes.

The painting style of a person indicates his or her character. There is no need to grant her paintings with profound meaning or philosophical ideas. We just immerse ourselves in her perspective, stand where she once stood, wait for the scenery to present different colors and textures as seasons change, and for the world to open its arms. In this sense, we can listen to the “wind” with her, and the “scenery” can be felt and touched.