Spring Color, 46cm×69cm Color on Paper, 2019
Observe and swim as you please
——Talking about Xu Xiaoyun's flower and bird paintings
Text/He Yawen
PhD candidate, China Academy of Arts
Xu Xiaoyun has studied design, painted brushes, and in recent years, she has mainly painted freehand, these learning experiences have created her comprehensive creative ability and way of thinking, which also shows that she never gives up learning and exploring new things, and dares to break through and transform. If you want to summarize the characteristics of her artistic creation, it should be more appropriate to describe her as "very diligent", "able to meditate", and "reiki". From the long-term life exchanges with her, I found that she cherished time very much, and although the theoretical learning task during her doctoral studies was very heavy, she still insisted on writing and drawing every day, and did not give herself the opportunity to be born. As long as she picks up the paintbrush, she is very engaged, and she can be completely free from external interference and focus on her creation. In fact, she did not carry out professional training in Chinese painting since she was a child, but only began to study systematically at the stage of graduate school, but with her talent for painting, her ear to family learning from childhood, and her love and sensitivity to creation, her professional quality is no less than that of painters who have studied Chinese painting since childhood, and her works are full of stubbornness and tenacity, and there is a natural interest in growing freely.
"The First Branch of Jiangnan", 69cm× 138cm, color on paper, 2020
Xu Xiaoyun's flower and bird paintings are presented in two types, one is a gong pen and the other is a small freehand. Gongbi is a type of work that she explored and tried in the early days, and her gongbi pen has the composition of the pen, which is both precise and atmospheric, and the color is simple and elegant. I once asked her what was so particular about the composition and color of her brush strokes, and she said that she was painting according to her own feelings. Sketch freehand is the main type of painting she mainly painted after she systematically studied with Tang Jian at the China Academy of Art during her master's and doctoral degrees. During this period, she realized that the brush is more inclined to "painting", and the freehand is more inclined to "writing", so she has been training her pen and ink skills diligently, insisting on practicing calligraphy, and the color of small freehand gives way to pen and ink, and only slightly embellishes. Her brush and small freehand seem to belong to two different forms of expression, but there are commonalities, her brush has a freehand component, her small freehand also has a work component, work and writing are integrated, and switching freely. It can be seen that the brushwork and small freehand are her way of self-expression, but the former is more based on a good artistic feeling to create, and the latter has added more systematic professional training on this basis.
Gudao Yuanmei, 68cm×68cm Ink on paper, 2020
Admire Xu Xiaoyun's paintings, dashing atmosphere, with a decisive pen, in contrast to her beautiful personal image. But those who know her well know that her paintings reflect her decisive, tenacious, and simple character, and are only expressed through the painting language transformed by "pen and ink". Her pen strength is trained and learned over the years, and the stability and accuracy of the next pen are inseparable from the observation of objects. Her creation is based on sketching, it can also be said that she is very good at sketching, can replace her own thinking through the observation of things, do not stick to objects, and achieve the realm of "beyond the image". This is because she can go deep into the field, take root in the local area, and observe attentively, she is good at observing the things around her, such as the magnolias, pomegranates, bamboo and other plants planted in the Academy of Chinese Art, which are the objects of her sketching during the class; she will also use the holiday time to go out to sketch, a painting is for several months, such as painting bamboo in the Botanical Garden in Yunnan, painting ancient plum in the village, so "bamboo" and "plum" are also two of the more common themes in her paintings.
Sketches in The Durian Garden, 46× 68cm Ink on paper, 2017
Some people also think that her paintings are more traditional, but only by adhering to the tradition can she pursue the new, maintain the original intention, hold the passion, and hold the technique to lay a solid foundation for the subsequent changes. She has all of this, and the rest is left to time to temper.
Appreciation of works
Ice and Snow Posture, 69cm×138cm Ink on paper, 2020
"March Flowers Bloom Long", 220×115cm, color on paper, 2015
"That Morning of that Year", 245× 145cm, color on paper, 2015
Frost Fall · 136× 68cm Color on paper, 2018
Introduction to art
Xu Xiaoyun
Zi Fengtong, a native of Juxian County, Shandong Province.
He is currently a doctoral candidate in the research direction of Chinese flower and bird painting creation at the China Academy of Arts, and his supervisor is Professor Tang Jian.
He is a member of the China Artists Association and the China Gongbi Painting Society.