The Fragrance of Soil: On Liao Kaiming's Paintings

One may be easily moved by the true emotions the artist invest,when examining Liao Kaiming's wood cut works. The reason is that his works are rich in the profound passion for traditional Chinese culture and a deep love for the land where he was born and grew up.

Over the last four decades, Liao Kaiming's art exploration were few in number but high in quality. Based on his social experience and art cultivation, he often takes many rehearsals to perfect them. "Spring", "Autumn Scene in the Country of Fruits", "Threshing Rice", and "The New Year Eve Party" in the Sixties, and "Bamboo-land", "Spring River Water", "Embracing the Spring", "Pastoral Song", "The Ripeness of Lychee", "Dragon Dance" in the Eighties, and "The Song of Spring" in the Nineties are among his most influential works. These works are linked through a clear esthetic thematic pursuit and personal style, namely, his expression of the rustic life and mood, his passionate love of country scenes, his longing for the innocence of humans and the fragrance of the soil. Partly because of his childhood memory of his hometown in Sichuan Province, or of unforgettable recollections of the opera troupe experience in his youth, or of his contacts with excellent folk arts while he was preparing project for a folk arts museum, but mostly because of the pursuit of a homestead for his passions and spiritual shelter. He retains a deep passion for country life, rural scenery, the simplicity, honesty and diligence of the folks and for the rural traditions, customs, and folk arts. The sociologist Fei Xiaotong said that Chinese society is rural. The rural feelings are the true and simple emotions of Chinese people and are the essence of the Chinese spirit. His sharp, accurate, and notable depiction of this quality impresses viewers a lot.

He is not only concerned with the expression of the spiritual world, but also pays close attention to formal terminology. To explore the nationality and individuality of formal senses, he thoroughly studied excellent ancient art treasures. He absorbed the solemnity of the bronze patterns in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties (2,100 BC to 256 BC), the simplicity of the painted bricks and stones in the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD), the contrast between black and white in folk paper cuttings, and the simple design of New Year paintings. The strokes of the Impressionists and the structure of Cubism can also be found in his works. He has a strong sense of artistic forms but they are reserved and do not damage the overall effect of the works. The artistic language of his paintings matches the visual experience and aesthetic traditions of Chinese people. Sometimes, his works even have the simplicity, passions, briskness, innocence and freshness of the Peasants' Paintings and the differences only lie in the deep humanism of the professional painter.

He stresses the all-round improvement of artistic and cultural accomplishment. He likes folk songs, caricatures, movies and resounding songs about the Anti-Japanese War and all these have infused his blood, feelings and personality. They often naturally flow out from his works and we find this quality in his paintings. He puts his love, ideals, aesthetics, personal pursuits, accomplishments, personality and wits, his whole spiritual and emotional world into the paintings "to bridge the gaps between different nations, fostering their love for each other and for the world" (by Liao Kaiming).Arts are emotions. To portray the mental world of the kind, innocent, diligent and smart Chinese people and to depict their life, work, happiness and hopes has been Liao Kaiming's artistic pursuit and dreams for many years. This has also become a salient characteristic of his paintings. Not only Chinese people are fond of his works, but also the international audience can feel the charms of the oriental quality and the style of Chinese nationality.(Originally published on Chinese Culture Weekly, February 12, 2000.)

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