During the Hong Kong trip Sarah explained to me the theory and concept behind every Chinese painting. Being the jakun I never once notice the simplicity it was like “Hmm now you mention, it does look awfully obvious”. I have always been keen with ideas that are yet so simple that people never view it in that perspective.

Did you know? Most paintings were landscapes, often shanshui (“mountain water”) paintings. In these landscapes, monochromatic and sparse (a style that is collectively called shuimohua), the purpose was not to reproduce exactly the appearance of nature (realism) but rather to grasp an emotion or atmosphere so as to catch the “rhythm” of nature.

I will most probably use the same concept for my final year work, seeing whether it is possible to use an old interpretation concept in a modern society. Probably playing around with transparencies, paper weights/colors or even embossing. Can’t wait to see the outcome.