He Wei
“Contradiction” MAR. 28, 2015 – MAY. 23, 2015
He Wei’s mysterious abstractions investigate interior landscapes of the mind and heart. Through a process of applying many translucent layers of oil paint onto canvases lying on the floor random expressionistic color fields are created sometimes with broken geometric structures floating on the surface. The texture and wrinkles in the canvas, and the imperfections of the floor form depressions and crevices on the painting’s surface. Using different techniques and tools He Wei applies the paint with brushes, rollers, scrapers, even watering cans, layer upon layer. The thinned oils flow onto the canvas and settle into the linen’s texture and crevices creating soft undulating colors and unexpected shapes.
The process is the unspoken subject of his work. He Wei is not looking for meaning in his painting but through the process of painting he searches for a deeper meaning of creativity and self. His quest is for freedom. But even though our nature is to long for freedom we also have the need for control. This is the dynamic that drives his work and its ultimate contradiction. Life and art are a struggle. His process rejects caution, embraces chance, fights fear, and allows mistakes. But at the same time it is ordered by his sense of color, composition, and the natural attributes of his chosen materials. In the end, freedom needs to be balanced by order or they both lose their purpose and power. When needed He Wei achieves visual balance by applying broken geometric shapes to the painting. These forms help control and order the randomness of the fluid paint. They are not superimposed but seem to have grown into or have risen out of an ambiguous space to the paintings surface.
He Wei’s paintings are scarred but beautiful. That can be their purpose and meaning, and that is enough. They are completely successful and satisfying in that way. But by understanding the way he works and his ultimate purpose in creating we can have a deeper appreciation for his work, life, and the world around us. The beauty in his work is transferred to our own lives through this experience. He Wei’s process of creating an artwork, mirrors his journey through life. It seeks to be honest, to find balance, to struggle with opposition, to rise above destructive forces and to use it all for the good of the whole. The process produces an art object but it is secondary to his quest to find freedom and balance in life. But we were made to create, and the work that he has produced is a worthy gift in itself, simple, beautiful, and true.
何伟用神秘的抽象概念考察头脑与心灵内部的风景。在向平躺于地板的画布上涂抹很多层半透明油画颜料的过程中,随意而表现主义的色彩田被创造出来,时而以不连续的几何结构浮于表面。画布上的纹理和皱纹,以及地板的缺陷,在画面表面形成了凹陷与裂缝。何伟使用了不同的技法与工具,借助画笔、滚筒、刮刀甚至喷壶,层层叠加地涂抹颜料。被稀释的油画颜料流淌到画布上,在亚麻纹理与裂缝中安顿下来,这些纹理与裂缝制造了柔和起伏的色彩与出人意料的形状。
过程是他作品中未被言明的主题。何伟并不在他的绘画中寻找含义,而是在绘画过程中搜寻一种关于创造力与自我的更深层意义。他所追求的是自由。不过,尽管我们本性渴望自由,我们仍需有所控制。这种相互作用的动力促成了他的作品以及作品中的终极矛盾。生活同艺术彼此对抗。他的创作过程拒绝谨慎、拥抱偶然、抵制恐惧并且允许失误。但同时,他对色彩、构图以及他所选材料特质的意识又为这一过程带来了秩序。最终,自由需要秩序来平衡,否则二者均会失去自身的作用与力量。必要时,何伟会在画中借助不连续的几何形状来达到视觉上的平衡。这些形状有助于对流体颜料的随意性加以控制和组织。它们并非是被强加于画作表面,而更像是演化成一个模糊的空间,或是从这样一个空间中生发出来。
何伟的画作虽有疤痕但却美好——可以说这就是它们的目的和意义,而且这也足够了。从这一角度讲,这些画作完全是成功和令人满足的。不过,通过了解他的工作方式以及他在创作中的终极目标,我们可以更深刻地欣赏他的作品、生活以及围绕在我们身边的世界。在这种体验中,他作品中的美好转移到了我们自己的生活中来。何伟创作艺术作品的过程反映了他的生活历程。他试图做到诚实、找到平衡、同对立事物对抗、超越破坏性力量,并利用这一切来达到整体的良好效果。过程产生了艺术品,但更为重要的是他对生活中自由与平衡的追求。不过我们必须创作,而何伟创作出的作品本身就是可贵的礼物——单纯、美好而真实。
“Contradiction” MAR. 28, 2015 – MAY. 23, 2015
He Wei’s mysterious abstractions investigate interior landscapes of the mind and heart. Through a process of applying many translucent layers of oil paint onto canvases lying on the floor random expressionistic color fields are created sometimes with broken geometric structures floating on the surface. The texture and wrinkles in the canvas, and the imperfections of the floor form depressions and crevices on the painting’s surface. Using different techniques and tools He Wei applies the paint with brushes, rollers, scrapers, even watering cans, layer upon layer. The thinned oils flow onto the canvas and settle into the linen’s texture and crevices creating soft undulating colors and unexpected shapes.
The process is the unspoken subject of his work. He Wei is not looking for meaning in his painting but through the process of painting he searches for a deeper meaning of creativity and self. His quest is for freedom. But even though our nature is to long for freedom we also have the need for control. This is the dynamic that drives his work and its ultimate contradiction. Life and art are a struggle. His process rejects caution, embraces chance, fights fear, and allows mistakes. But at the same time it is ordered by his sense of color, composition, and the natural attributes of his chosen materials. In the end, freedom needs to be balanced by order or they both lose their purpose and power. When needed He Wei achieves visual balance by applying broken geometric shapes to the painting. These forms help control and order the randomness of the fluid paint. They are not superimposed but seem to have grown into or have risen out of an ambiguous space to the paintings surface.
He Wei’s paintings are scarred but beautiful. That can be their purpose and meaning, and that is enough. They are completely successful and satisfying in that way. But by understanding the way he works and his ultimate purpose in creating we can have a deeper appreciation for his work, life, and the world around us. The beauty in his work is transferred to our own lives through this experience. He Wei’s process of creating an artwork, mirrors his journey through life. It seeks to be honest, to find balance, to struggle with opposition, to rise above destructive forces and to use it all for the good of the whole. The process produces an art object but it is secondary to his quest to find freedom and balance in life. But we were made to create, and the work that he has produced is a worthy gift in itself, simple, beautiful, and true.
何伟用神秘的抽象概念考察头脑与心灵内部的风景。在向平躺于地板的画布上涂抹很多层半透明油画颜料的过程中,随意而表现主义的色彩田被创造出来,时而以不连续的几何结构浮于表面。画布上的纹理和皱纹,以及地板的缺陷,在画面表面形成了凹陷与裂缝。何伟使用了不同的技法与工具,借助画笔、滚筒、刮刀甚至喷壶,层层叠加地涂抹颜料。被稀释的油画颜料流淌到画布上,在亚麻纹理与裂缝中安顿下来,这些纹理与裂缝制造了柔和起伏的色彩与出人意料的形状。
过程是他作品中未被言明的主题。何伟并不在他的绘画中寻找含义,而是在绘画过程中搜寻一种关于创造力与自我的更深层意义。他所追求的是自由。不过,尽管我们本性渴望自由,我们仍需有所控制。这种相互作用的动力促成了他的作品以及作品中的终极矛盾。生活同艺术彼此对抗。他的创作过程拒绝谨慎、拥抱偶然、抵制恐惧并且允许失误。但同时,他对色彩、构图以及他所选材料特质的意识又为这一过程带来了秩序。最终,自由需要秩序来平衡,否则二者均会失去自身的作用与力量。必要时,何伟会在画中借助不连续的几何形状来达到视觉上的平衡。这些形状有助于对流体颜料的随意性加以控制和组织。它们并非是被强加于画作表面,而更像是演化成一个模糊的空间,或是从这样一个空间中生发出来。
何伟的画作虽有疤痕但却美好——可以说这就是它们的目的和意义,而且这也足够了。从这一角度讲,这些画作完全是成功和令人满足的。不过,通过了解他的工作方式以及他在创作中的终极目标,我们可以更深刻地欣赏他的作品、生活以及围绕在我们身边的世界。在这种体验中,他作品中的美好转移到了我们自己的生活中来。何伟创作艺术作品的过程反映了他的生活历程。他试图做到诚实、找到平衡、同对立事物对抗、超越破坏性力量,并利用这一切来达到整体的良好效果。过程产生了艺术品,但更为重要的是他对生活中自由与平衡的追求。不过我们必须创作,而何伟创作出的作品本身就是可贵的礼物——单纯、美好而真实。