Study IV - Hold

Hold -- Arhats in a dream, Yafei Li, ca.2017

Hold -- Arhats in a dream, Yafei Li, ca.2017

Sixteen Arhats, Guan Xiu, ca.894

Last Tuesday, Tony said in the E-mail, "art is a form of faith". Recalling the previous three weeks, a man without faith has been using art to explore the power of faith. All this seems to be unconscious. People with faith maybe understand what I am doing more than I do. But I like this kind of unconsciousness. It is luxury. Art is a form of faith, and faith is a form of art. I am looking for them. I do not know where to go. I do not know if there is an end.

Yesterday, my mentor told me that he went to Dunhuang. Dunhuang has always been my dream. I want to see those ancient Chinese murals, especially early ones. He told me he loved those early murals. "Although the brush is naive and is not colorful. First time seeing it, so scared, quickly run out, calm down, go back seeing it, hold your breath, not dare to move." Perhaps this is the power of faith in painting.

This reminds me of the painting Sixteen Arhats by Guan Xiu. Tony also mentioned Arhats last week, and he asked why these Arhats' faces are so distorted. The picture he showed me is from this painting. They look like foreigners having bushy eyebrows, large eyes, hanging cheeks and high noses, seated in landscapes, leaning against pine trees and stones. They are unkempt and "eccentric". They are vagabonds and beggars who have left all worldly desires behind. "It was in a dream that I saw these Gods and Buddhas. After I woke up, I painted what I saw in the dream. So, I guess I can refer to these Luohans as 'Luohans in a dream'."