WORKS ELABORATION:
Under the ravages of the pandemic, the whole world is in a turbulent situation, and everything is unpredictable. I wanted to express my thoughts on my existence with brush and ink when I began to create my graduation work.
Confucius traveled around many states and found it difficult to realize his ambitions, so he said: “Since my way is making no headway; I shall get upon a raft and float out to sea.”
Why go to the “sea”?
Above and below the rolling sea lurks a space-time full of catastrophic dangers, which is turbulent, dark, sticky, tragic and uncertain. However, the brave idealist will not recoil. Facing the raging waves, he allows his mind to wander in the boundless sea with a light heart, where only “I” is present, and the rest is not important.
I formed lines with rough ink dots and stacked textures with heavy stone colors. I practiced brush and ink in an uncertain form and then got rid of the artificiality with strong brush strokes.
When the storm subsides, what I see is only a calm sea.
TUTOR COMMENT:
Xu Dawei’s work expresses lofty ideas with true feelings. He draws from traditional Chinese classics and uses them as a starting point for his creation. In terms of technique, he transforms the traditional Chinese heavy color blue-green landscape painting and presents a strong visual impact and inner spiritual appeal. The completion of this work opens a new world for him.
-- Liu Rong