uang Dan's Portraits - simple and beautiful contours of a human figure that catch eyes
Shin Hang Seop (Art Critic)
Portraits originate from oneself. To paint a face that resembles one's own, that is, to paint a human face, is the manifestation of love. Unlike animals, humans reveal the emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure on their face. So even if you just paint your face, an infinite variety of paintings may result. That might be the reason why there is no other genre as difficult as portrait. This is because not only morphological matters, but also emotional expressions made through faces cannot be ignored. However, portraits ultimately end up with individuality of forms, which is independent formal beauty beyond the level of emotional expressions or contents.
Huang Dan has already begun to explore the individual formal beauty in relation to the morphological interpretation. As specific evidence, we can find traces of some unified forms of interpretation in dozens of portraits. In other words, if following some of the formal features revealed in recent works, it is certain that she is concerned about the her own consistent language of forms to make the shapes. Such beauty of forms is quite intentional and is the result of a constant awareness of formal beauty. In other words, no matter which piece you look at, you can sense that they are Huang Dan's works. This implies the evidence of direct exploration on the formal beauty.
Huang Dan usually paints female images. To think of it, I cannot get rid of the idea that she has very strong self-affection. It is because there can be no doubt that drawing only female images as a woman must be its manifestation. Only women, whether small stature or a group, are of interest to her. This could be an expression of special interest and affection towards a form resembling one's own face, which is routinely seen through a mirror. Even though men make up a half of the world, she only keeps her eyes on women, and that might be an expression of interest in the changing emotions as well as outward beauty. This is because women's unique way of expressing emotions is none other than the fountain of endless pictorial inspiration.
Huang Dan's paintings are never monotonous, although they are about only women, particularly, young women. Because she does not miss out on the rich emotional expression that a woman's face has, with different facial expressions every moment. Emotional expression does not just appear on the face. Women reveal their feelings to the outside through the whole body. Not missing such inner expressions means reading women's delicate inner world. Perhaps it leads to her ability to create different senses in each of her works while she uses a language and style of forms with a sense of unity.
The formal features, that is, individual formal beauty, revealed in her recent works are evident in the beautiful contours that define the form of a human figure. The shape of a human figure created by the bold, smooth and powerful contour without detailed description tells so. Looking at her works, I realize again that traditional Chinese paintings are supported by the beauty of lines. This is because the simple and clear shape created by clear ink wash lines certainly highlights the figurative beauty that cannot be felt in real characters.
Indeed, the realization of the pictorial beauty requires a more active figurative interpretation, which partially distorts or transforms the actual figure. She responds faithfully to these demands. Detailed expressions such as eyes, nose and mouth are also reinterpreted by a consistent language and logic of forms. Therefore, a new figure is created with a great emphasis on the formal beauty, which is quite different from the actual figure. In particular, the elegant contours given to the form of a figure with its details omitted and simplified are very simplistic and clear. Such a simple and clear line reminds me of the image of China's old Buddha statues. Even sublime and piety are read from the smooth, flexible and graceful shoulder lines that seem to be flowing. Indeed. It tells us that she is approaching from a point of view that is quite different from the delicate, soft, fragile, and gentle images unique to women.
Huang Dan decolors the image of ordinary women, and create elegant and noble female images. She is creating goddess-like images of women, as if to identify the creative function of painting. This is certainly a pictorial magic that cannot be achieved in the reality. The elegant images of enchanted women shine with beauty. The beauty, while accompanied by visual pleasure, is not secular at all. However, that is not to say that it has religious solemnity. The new figures that Huang Dan has created emphasize the healthy beauty of a robust body. Most of all, the ink wash-painted portrait that fills the canvas gives off a feeling similar to that of a strong and elegant marble statue. She seems to be trying to remind us of where the beauty of ink wash lies in.
In works where ink wash and color are mixed well, the firm, unconfusing, color sense stands out. Visual pleasure is offered through understated and simple color arrangements. The new language of forms, which is a way of skillfully allowing images of light and shade to intersect each other, seizes attention. To express the part reflected by light in a bold blanking state results from a switch of conception. This sense of forms is really something, and gives a glimpse of a brilliant wit.
The simple and clear contour, like a charcoal-drawn line, is also the product of modern techniques of forms. In other words, it is the result of embracing a variety of modern expression techniques, unlike those used in traditional painting. In fact, she has used papers for other purposes, such as packaging, as well as drawing paper, and applied a variety of techniques according to their properties. Such efforts, as a result, must open the possibility of new language of forms and style in accordance with the new techniques of forms.
In short, she is an artist who is fully aware of what the arrival of a new world means. As this suggests, Huang Dan does not turn a blind eye to the sense of the times, or the trends of the times. She adheres to the immutable principle that painting should be a creative work in any case. In other words, she is conscious of the fact that loyalty to traditional values is important, but creating new values is the ethics of a true artist. In the meantime, she does not neglect to place the image and sentiment of Chinese women, or the Chinese, as a central value of a portrait. This is also a manifestation of self-consciousness: to look at the Chinese nature, life feelings, and their sentiments at the center of the painting.
Huang Dan is not afraid of accepting a Western conception of forms. At the same time, she does not lose the tradition of Chinese painting. Perhaps her recent works may be the sign of her contemplation of how to properly combine these two matters.
