Qiu Deshu has blazed a trail suitable for himself. Neither his predecessors, nor his peers have succeeded as he did in transforming material familiar to us by this way into visual experience or into what we called artistic forms. In building his unique insignia, Qiu also gives other people inspiration. Actually, the life of art exists in the individual creations of ever artist, or rather, in the thing discovered bit by every artist. Contemporary art is now undergoing intriguing changes, only a few artists can hold on to their positions. The judging standards are so varied and the yardsticks are so complicated, it made it difficult for artists to see clearly the distance between themselves and their background. Creations and discoveries are not flights of fancy, they are not the result of sudden impulse. If we say in our times, being an artist is still considered a profession and not merely a leisure behavior resulting from a highly materialized society, then the profession must have some demands which are most important for the artist to meet.

Qiu told me once that, the greatness of Van Gogh did not lie in his genius, but in his persistence. Yes, we can see from Qiu's words his understanding, his infatuation and dedication to art. Genius is not important, it is the strenuous efforts involved that count. Artists are like famer. They work all year round, day after day, year after year. It is the working process that is more important, not its results. Naturally, this concept determined Qui's superiority to others in intrinsic quality.

Everything would be void if artistic creation is not materialized into concrete process. I don't believe in brave words. If an artist cannot reflect superhuman intellect and understanding in his works, how can he show his superiority? Especially in contemporary China, so many things are vacillating and there are too many thing which bear the mark of ideological trends. In front of their own personal interest, many artists assume an ambiguous attitude. Their views are evasive. They dare not abandon anything, nor do they dare to adhere to anything. They orbit around the axis of interest, without any firm convictions or principle. The result of this philosophy is obvious. Artists are not immortals living in a fictitious haven and material benefit is a reality. But the Almighty God is not so generous as to let artist get everything and grasping everything. Sometimes, the more you abandon, the more you get. It is not a premeditated design, nor a strategy planned beforehand. It is determined by the character of the individual. Qiu is the first among contemporary Chinese artists who dared to abandon something. (He redesigned from public office as early as 1980's and became a professional painter, making his living on selling paintings.) In his own humble words, as he didn't know the way of the world and hasn't got the ability to handle properly the complicated relationships between people, the only thing he could do is to run away. Actually, he was too devoted to art and loved art above everything. People of his kind is pretty difficult to find in our times. Maybe, this is also some sort of an aspiration. Qiu is highly confident of his creations. He has his own system of concepts. His ideological world and creative technique are closely related with the reality of his social being and his life experience. Fission-Genesis-Sublimation, maybe, this formula is a concentrate of Qiu's life up to his moment, or it is the abstract of his living experience and circumstances. It is often said that a man's social being, determined his thinking. Nobody can go beyond the limits of his social being , but his thinking is free. Freedom is abstract phenomenon and it is freedom which established the transcendence of art. As far as this point is concerned, Qiu accomplished in one way or other some sort of a mission, that is, he has grasped the metaphysical concept in art and transformed it into the form of visual experience. His works give people a visual impact and at the same time, make people explore into more spiritual space beyond their visual experience.

When we talk about the woks of Chinese artists, we can't avoid the following dilemma: how do Chinese artists acquire their uniqueness in their creative activity? This is what Qiu told me: firstly, one must be extremely clear that he is a Chinese artists and secondly, he must create a new native art which will carry on the tradition and at the same time transcend the tradition. During a symposium, I spoke sadly on the heavy burden borne by Chinese artists. They think always of big subjects, such as their nation, their tradition, etc. They think of their responsibility in rejuvenating China. This is because all of us cannot avoid the powerful challenge by western culture (art) and we still cannot extricate ourselves from the formula of "Stimulus-Reaction". This is what Jean Paul sartre once said: Man can create history, but only under the conditions that history allows. Facing the reality of the mainstream western culture (art), the pressure which Chinese artists are experiencing is two-folds: one is international and the other native. In this circumstance, how should the artist's individual action be? Form and style represent part of the question and their concepts are often misunderstood. Therefore, the dilemma facing Qiu is a common and general one. But his originality lids n that he developed the traditional form of expression by poetic means. The unique pattern-style works of his reproduced the intense emotion in his inner heart with a hidden strength that can be obviously felt. What made him so honorable is that, in his long creative process, he has never allowed himself to be dejected or sluggish. Without seeing his works, one can never imagine how did he create his works. The complicatedness of his technique reflects his firm dedication to art and his spiritual persistence. To understand the meaning of a work requires the sound judgment on the part of every viewer. I would like to remind everybody that it would be a regret for the viewer if he is not able to see Qiu's works in their original.

The characteristics of everything is determined by its own social being. The originality in Qiu's art needs time to further consolidate, and of course, it calls for further development also. I have heard more and more people discussing his works and his artistic ways. This speaks for the fact that his influence is expanding day by day. This also serves as an evidence for an opinion which is pretty faire, ie, an artist must have his originality is precious by itself. Qiu's significance is beginning to be seen by all. When people cannot bypass him while discussing Chinese art, word of praise and admiration for him would no longer be important.

Li Xiaoshan