Text  /  Li  Congwen

-  Intro-
Occasionally,  when  I  think  of  the  day  Duckie  came  to  my  house,  I  couldn’t  help  feeling  that  it  would  be  better  to  just  raise  a  dog.  Only  at  that  time,  I  always  felt  that  the  dog  will  cause  a  lot  of  trouble,  so  I  just  gave  up.  Unexpectedly,  the  trouble  that  a  duck  brings,  is  even  far  more  that   "a  lot ".  For  example,  Duckie  can’t  learn  to  make  stool  in  a  proper  place,  so  when  it  was  still  a   "indoor  duck ",  I  was  always  holding  a  mop  behind  it;  Duckie  either  can’t  play  trick  like  dogs,  like  taking  the  balls  back;  certainly  not  generous  or  greeting  to  guests,  always  keep  a  distance  of  2  meters  or  more  from  who  want  to  touch  it,  and  refusing  to  pose  for  a  picture.  Most  unfortunately,  although  some  ducks  with  good  character  would  enjoy  being  embraced  by  people,  but  not  Duckie,  it  hates  to  be  embraced.

I  know  clearly,  there’s  something  that  my  dear  Duckie  can  never  learn,  but  it’s  still  my  beloved  pet,  I  will  never  to  request  a  duck  with  the  standard  for  a  dog.  Since  the  Creator  made  them  completely  different,  so  I  also  learn  to  appreciate  his  creation  with  a  different  angle.

That’s  when  I  began  to  understand  what  is  acceptance.

-  Acceptance  -
When  preparing  for  this  exhibition,  Liu  Wei  had  his  own   "plan ",  conceived  a  lot  of  ideas  that  he  thought  as  brilliant,  and  then  began  to  carry  out  excitedly.  Liu  Wei  is  actually  more  inclined  to  Chinese  tradition  in  his  blood,  plus  he  has  rarely  attempted  great  themes,  so  he  wants  to  challenge  himself.  He  chose  Landscape  Painting  as  a  starting  point,  wishing  to  attempt  this  theme  in  his  own  way.  I  remember  there  was  a  lot  of  canvas  displaying  in  Liu 's  studio,  and  he  was  also  painting  on  a  few  different  pictures  at  the  same  time.  He  drew  very  fast,  often  in  a  half  day  the  canvas  is  covered  all  around  the  studio,  and  the  color  was  really  good  (I  always  appreciate  his  essays,  when  he  is  drawing  without  scruple,  he  can  always  create  the  works  that  make  me  smile  knowingly,  and  the  degree  of  completion  is  very  high.  His  lines  go  extremely  great,  painting  straight-forward  without  hesitation,  however  abundant  and  various  without  losing  grace.  But  he  refused  to  display  them,  I  feel  so  sorry  about  it.)    But  after  a  few  weeks,  the  question  arose,  the  scenes  he  painted  was  after  all  from  his  imagination,  although  there  was  some  reference  in  some  materials  and  pictures,  it’s  still  lack  of  depth  and  vividness.

Personally,  I  think  human  mind  is  not  the  original  type,  most  of  the  creations  from  human  being  cling  to  reality.  Disaffiliated  from  the  original  works  of  the  Creator,  when  human  beings  try  to  portray  on  their  own,  it  always  appears  thin  and  weak.  After  Liu  Wei  realizing  this,  Liu  Wei  decided  to  get  away  for  a  while,  he  chose  Jiangnan,  he  who’s  usually  not  keen  on  travelling  went  out  for  a  week,  to  feel  the  reality.  Returning  to  the  studio,  he  organized  his  thought,  started  a  new  attempt.  At  that  time,  a  lot  of  ideas  always  popped  out  of  his  head,  and  he  also  feel  joyful  about  these  ideas.  But  I  worried  about  him  stealthily,  in  my  opinion,  these  ideas  although  were  described  very  well,  they  left  me  a  kind  of    feeling  not  like  Liu  Wei  himself,  that  is  to  say,  his  ideas  and  himself  were  disjointed.  I  didn 't  just  go  to  throw  cold  water  on  him,  just  felt  that  the  problem  wasn’t  the  past  yet,  I  just  needed  waiting  for  it  gone  by  quietly.

I  didn’t  wait  too  long,  soon  Liu  Wei  felt  that  this  kind  of  painting  was  not  as  vital  as  he  imagined.  There  were  some  very  beautiful  scenes,  but  still  lack  of  something.  What  was  missing?  He  didn 't  know.  So  he  wanted  to  break  away  once  more.  This  time,  he  chose  Mount  Huang  Shan.

Back  in  college  days,  Liu  Wei  had  been  to  Huang  Shan,  revisiting  the  old  place  made  him  very  happy.  Needless  to  say  the  magnificence  and  beauty  of  the  scenery,  Liu  Wei  found  out,  instead  of  the  distant  mountains,  it  was  the  roadside  grotesque  stone  along  with  the  covering  moss  and  the  rain  erosion  that  attract  him.  In  my  opinion,  this  is  what  makes  Liu  Wei  out  of  the  ordinary.  Most  of  people  who  go  to  Huang  Shan  will  always  be  attracted  to  the  distant  ridges  and  peaks,  because  it  looks  like  a  potted  landscape  out  of  the  whimsey  of  nature  from  the  picture,  so  beautiful,  but  when  you  get  into  it,  you  will  find  out  it  is  so  lofty,  cannot  be  neglected.  However,  what  caught  Liu  Wei’s  attention  was  the  microscopic  things,  like  every  tree  and  bush,  soil  and  rock  in  the  mountain,  which  he  looked  over  and  over  again.  Nobody  would  tell  it  was  Huang  Shan  from  the  photos  he  took  if  without  any  explanation.

In  this  process,  Liu  Wei  seemed  have  caught  something.  After  coming  home,  he  painted  a  boy  walking  in  the  pine  wood.  When  finishing  this  work,  he  said  with  a  smile,   "I  intended  to  draw  the  mountain,  turned  out  I  was  walking  in  it   ".

The  whole  thing  makes  me  feel  this  is  a  story  about  acceptance.  Sometimes,  people  often  want  to  catch  other  people’s  shining  point,  to  begrudge  what  others  have,  to  copy,  to  learn,  but  seldom  think  about  whether  those  things  are  really  suitable  for  themselves.  Liu  Wei  was  puzzled  by  those  grand  scenes,  trying  to  take  it  over  for  his  own  use,  but  that  is  not  like  himself  anymore.  Against  one’s  true  colors,  it’s  just  like  to  make  my  Duckie  learn  tricks  for  dog,  which  is  painful  and  very  unnatural  even  if  you  have  made  it.  When  he  took  back  his  sight  from  elsewhere,  getting  back  to  himself,  that’s  when  he  realized,   "Ah,  I  was  like  this ".  When  he  accepted  himself,  his  works  obtain  their  own  flavor.

-  Understanding-
I  used  to  think  that  understanding  is  above  all,  but  as  time  goes  by,  I  gradually  understand,  acceptance  comes  before  it.  In  another  way,  you  can  understand  it  better  when  you  accept  it.  During  the  days  he  preparing  for  the  exhibition,  I  saw  Liu  Wei’s  struggling,  because  what  he  have  to  accept  was  himself.  After  many  setbacks  and  failures,  he  finally  found  out,  there  was  difference  between  who  he  expected  himself  to  be  and  the  real  Liu  Wei.  To  this  end,  he  had  been  not  reconciled  to,  had  tried  to  change,  had  tasted  the  failure,  at  last,  he  calmly  accepted,  and  feeling  it’s  also  good  to  be  himself.  Because  of  such  acceptance,  he  understood  there  was  some  things  that  can’t  be  compelled.  Having  thoughts  is  very  important,  but  art  won’t  be  great  only  having  ideas.  To  create  a  successful  artwork,  the  artist  must  turn  his  thoughts  into  reality,  which  is  not  an  easy  process.  Imagination  is  always  glorious,  but  putting  it  into  practice  a  painful  experience  like  refining  gold,  if  you  do  not  understand  your  own  ability,  temperament  and  character,  it  will  become  a  difficult  labor,  or  a  maldevelopment.

In  my  mind,  a  good  work  always  means  a  growing  progress.  If  the  artist  doesn’t  understand  himself/herself,  the  works  he/she  creates  will  be  lifeless.  Like  growing  flowers,  only  understanding  their  preferences  and  characteristics  will  make  them  grow  into  gorgeous  flowers.  If  you  go  against  their  growth  laws,  then  it’s  very  difficult  to  make  them  grow  healthily.  Liu  Wei  realized  what  was  he  good  at  and  what  he  really  wanted  to  express,  therefore  painting  to  him  is  no  longer  applying  mechanically,  which  is  more  like  water  flowing  out  from  the  heart.  Although  there  was  some  harsh  exercise,  it  is  necessary  for  growth.

The  second  time  to  visit  Huang  Shan,  Liu  Wei  didn’t  go  to  the  highest  Lotus  Peak.  He  had  climbed  to  Lotus  Peak  once,  the  risk  and  steepness  of  it  made  him  very  impressed.  This  time,  he  didn 't  want  to  try  it  again,  feeling  that  it  was  the  things  that  a  person  will  do  when  younger.  He  finally  realized,  he  was  not  in  the  mood  to  overlook  the  mountains  small.  He  had  thought  that  what  he  wanted  to  express  was  the  great  mountains  and  waters,  but  the  experience  of  revisiting  Mount  Huang  Shan  let  him  know,  that  was  not  really  what  he  wanted,  his  real  interest  is  to  return  to  innocence.  After  all,  he  is  a  scrupulous  man,  tending  to  appreciate  the  taste  of  the  things  in  his  life.  Figuring  this  out,  he  drew  many  ordinary  things  through  his  painting  brush,  and  all  these  things  were  stained  with  Liu  Wei 's  temperament.  Those  delicate  brushworks,  not  splintery,  seems  relaxing  at  first  glance,  when  you  look  into  it  carefully  you  will  find  that  everywhere  could  stand  serious  scrutiny,  this  temperament  comes  along  with  nervousness,  but  the  control  is  quite  good,  it  seems  to  just  crush  at  the  critical  point,  making  people  slightly  nervous  but  not  losing  the  calm.  Personally  I  feel  that  this  is  a  very  interesting  point,  although  he  occasionally  splits  hairs  because  of  it.

Liu  Wei  says  now  he  understands  himself  more  than  ever,  and  is  more  determined  to  the  direction  he  moves  forward.  Although  he    experienced  confusion  caused  by  the  landscapes,  he  finally  understood,  that  it’s  not  necessarily  a  big  spectacle  that  will  excite  people 's  mind.  Similarly,  Chinese  traditional  daily  flowers  and  birds  are  also  very  infectious.  When  he  was  able  to  face  himself  calmly,  he  finally  grasped  his  temperament,  starting  to  create  his  own  microworld.  A  potted  plant,  a  basket  of  mushrooms,  a  cat,  or  a  duck,  all  these  are  very  ordinary  things  in  his  daily  life,  without  any  ambitions,  but  they  completely  come  from  Liu  Wei’s  heart,  so  they  also  possess  the  breath  and  strength  of  life,  meanwhile  revealing  a  little  humor  of  Liu  Wei’s  style.  They  are  not  Landscapes,  but  we  can  still  feel  the  majesty  of  Landscape,  that  experience  of  failure  has  not  be  wasted,  it  becomes  a  part  of  his  temperament,  which  makes  him  grow.

-Possibility-
A  person  is  born  with  energy,  which  is  either  used  to  grow,  or  to  be  wasted.  When  he  is  accepted,  understood,  and  no  longer  his  own  rivalry,  he  will  grow.  I  won’t  say  Liu  Wei  at  this  point  is  already  perfect,  or  a  flawless  fruit,  he  is  very  clear-headed  that  there  are  still  some  problems  needed  to  be  addressed.  However,  I  find  out  that  he  is  no  longer  wasting  his  energy  tangling  up  with  himself,  he  learned  that  the  works  have  their  own  way  of  growth.  This  time,  I  see  some  different  possibilities  on  him.