Art is the only common language of human beings, it can cross the boundaries of region, race, language, etc., and connect our hearts and perceptions. But the premise is that we have to find the key to connect the hearts of people from different cultural backgrounds, which requires us to open our hearts to accept more people who are different from ourselves, to understand their hearts and what you share in your heart, and then to pass it on in a way that everyone can understand, which is difficult and requires opportunities, but only in this way can art complete its synaesthesia mission and become the eternal place. This is something I have been pursuing all my life, and in order to find this, I must eliminate the interference of various factors, avoid prejudice, and keep trying to find it.
And creation, in fact, is this key, she first of all talks to herself. When you use the medium to interpret the inner feelings and present them to yourself and the audience in an appropriate way, you will see your true state more clearly. And only when we are authentic can we establish spiritual links with people who are different from ourselves, thus generating communication and dialogue. Only in this way can we break through the limitations of time and space, region, race, etc., and present a primitive state of sudden enlightenment and innocence.
Some of my paintings seem surreal, but in fact, the inner reality is closer to the real image than the appearance of the eye. The work is my mental experience, the refraction of my life, not deliberately carved, not intentional performance, not following the great man, not belonging to which genre, all the techniques, composition of the visual gestalt, only obey the inner desire, in order to release the spiritual waves, in the crowd to find people who can be received, it is enough.
"Tonight and Tonight", Zhang Xianling, oil on canvas, 100cm×180cm
Work, with children, take care of the family, time is filled with all kinds of chores, identity is divided by various roles fragmented, but there is always a voice in the heart whispering, calling yourself back to the original wish, choose a corner, be yourself. Presumably, it is a problem that many women who enter the society will face.
After a few years of squeezing the bus from nine to five, things in school and family were in order, but my heart became more and more restless. I began to step up the rhythm of doing things, trying to finish what should be done early, and when the children were all asleep, I began to sit down and study, and strive for a higher starting point and change the status quo. It is not easy to take leave with the unit, so I made up my mind to win the national examination in six months, carry the book with me, and open it when I wake up at night. After receiving the notice, the tense nerves loosened, but the person fell. After returning from the hospital, I created this work, the girl in white is not only me, in fact, everyone who enters the society may be able to see their own shadow from it and read the call of the heart: whenever your body has to crawl on the ground, your heart can still get rid of the shackles of reality, face the sea, step into the clouds, and find yourself in the paradise of art.
The painting won an award at the Youth Graduation Exhibition. At the same time, he won the Outstanding Works Award of the 10th Shandong Provincial Culture and Art Festival, exhibited at the Provincial Art Museum, and toured the province. He won the Excellence Award of the Realistic Hyperrealist Painting Competition at the Humpback Art Museum of America.
"Non-Fish", Zhang Xianling, oil on canvas, 60cm×60cm
When we first arrived in New Zealand, there were many unexpected things to deal with, and in the face of a completely unfamiliar environment, my son and I had to work hard to adjust our state and find suitable activities and suitable people in order to integrate into local life faster. Thousands of miles away, his father is sick, Lao Ni has no one to take care of, knowing that a parting may be an eternal trick, but also to withstand strong psychological pressure, wipe away tears, and embark on a journey... Sometimes it feels like you're sinking to the bottom of the water, surrounded by a deep chill and unable to breathe.
Fortunately, I have the company of a paintbrush, the art to soothe my pain, and a group of enthusiastic friends to solve my worries and problems, and everything is fine. I began to study psychology and philosophy, and expanded my social circle to help my son and many of the mothers around me who were wandering away like me.
In the festival auction preparatory committee, met Anna, her daughter is young, her son is adolescent, and all kinds of trivialities make her have no time to take care of her hobbies and pursuits. I took her to my studio, and when I saw "Non-Fish", which was still in progress, she asked me without hesitation to leave it for her after I finished it. The look in her eyes let me know that she understood the connotation of this painting and felt empathy. The girl who strives to move up in the sea is not her, not me, not many people who are wives, mothers, and daughters, but do not give up trying to find themselves in the red dust. The world of the heavenly circle seems to be light and breezy, but it is bitter, sweet and sour, cold and warm self-knowledge, just like the dialogue between Zhuangzi and Keiko: Zi is not a fish, and anzhi fish is happy. And I, even if it is difficult, I have to try to break out of the water, let myself breathe freely, and bloom beautiful flowers.
In order to make the color of the bedroom more in harmony with this painting, Anna changed the bedside of the house, and she said: When you think of me, just look at it, and when you are fine, look at it.
"Flowers Are Not Flowers", Zhang Xianling, oil on canvas, 100cm×60cm
When I first arrived in Auckland, I rented an apartment in Broadway, the sun was shining outside the window, but there was little light in the house, and it was even more impossible to raise flowers, so I painted this painting, bringing flowers and sunlight into the dark room, imagining myself bathed in the warm sunshine, blooming like a flower.
As an artist, perhaps the greatest joy is that even if you walk in the mud all over the swamp, you can still think of the stars in your heart and flowers in your dreams. Even as the years go by, you can still be young and always bask in the sun.
The school raised funds for excellent teachers, I had nothing to do, I could not bear to send this painting to the auction party, watching several buyers on the big screen on the scene increased their weight, half happy, half lost, like a mother looking at her daughter to be married, happy and self-aware.
At night, it rained and fell all over the ground. I think of a song: I have a curtain of dreams, I don't know who I can share, how many secrets are in it, I want to tell no one can understand, the window is deeper and heavier, tonight the flowers fall into the sky, the spring comes and goes without a trace, leaving a curtain of dreams in vain...
Later, I found out that it was the school's charity foundation's sensible mother who took her away, and there was some relief, and the daughter's family went to the person who loved her, which was the best home.
"Leftover Landscape" Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 100cm×80cm
The woman, who was lying in the deep cold darkness, seemed to be asleep, but her hand seemed to be soothing Wang Ximeng's green landscape "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", implying her deep attachment to Chinese culture and her pity for the magnificent rivers and mountains. The yellowing of Li Tang's "Ten Thousand Pine Winds" gradually converges with the green smoke emanating from the chimneys of modern factories to show the pollution of the natural environment and the erosion of ancient culture by modern and contemporary machine industrial civilization to some extent. I would like to call on people to reduce the harm to Mother Nature, and the genes that protect their own culture will not disappear with the passage of time. A cool gray tone that expresses heaviness and compassion.
"Chair" Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 120cm×180cm
When a person has a position, it seems that he can sit back and enjoy peace, but this often makes us forget our original intentions and live in chaos. Even if the position isn't something you like and makes you uncomfortable, it takes courage to get out of your chair. It was my feeling when I was planning to go to graduate school. It is also an empathy for many people around me who are boiled in warm water but are not happy.
This painting missed the national art exhibition, because of my own lack of self-confidence, the teacher called to inform me that this painting was selected for the national art exhibition, I did not turn back for a while, I directly told the teacher, this painting is going to participate in another exhibition, the time and the national art exhibition conflict, Presumably no one will understand what I thought at that time, including myself. But the exhibition that seized the opportunity, the Qilu style oil painting exhibition sponsored by the Shandong Provincial Artists Association, only gave her the Excellence Award.
2020 (sold) Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 60cm×60cm
Valentine's Day in 2020, the most thrilling scene, deeply penetrated my heart. I came back to paint "2020" and put my expectations and hopes in the girl's outstretched neck and melancholy eyes.
A few days before that. I know that there are girlfriends with husbands in Auckland who can't bear to watch a few of our temporary single dogs celebrate the holiday alone, and want to take us to enjoy the fun together, and I am touched from the bottom of my heart. Dozens of people gathered around the table, staggering, exchanging roses, laughing and crossing several avenues... Suddenly, everyone's mobile phones sounded the alarm at the same time: in just two seconds it seemed to ring for a century: Oakland was back on level three alert, and the next hour, the lockdown was going to be, which meant that all of us had to go back to our homes in the next hour, no more contact and interaction. Anyone who has experienced the lockdown will know what this means, can't party, can't play ball, can't hike, can't dine in... We are like being shrouded in a transparent shroud, seeing each other, but alienating ourselves from each other.
I couldn't help but send a circle of friends after the painting was finished, I wanted to express my desire for freedom, I hoped for the end of the epidemic, and soon received a message from Apo to acquire this painting, I regretted a little, did not fail, in one fell swoop, I also liked, I want to keep it myself. But I should also ask her to go back, and it is good to leave more thoughts.
Narcissus (Narcissus) Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 50cm×100cm
In Greek legend, there is a beautiful young boy Narcissus, who saw his reflection in the water and fell deeply in love with him, lost his footing and fell into the water, turned into a daffodil, and became independent. Although Narcissus in Greek mythology is a beautiful teenager, in reality, there are many people who cannot fully accept themselves because of their experiences in childhood or the environment in which they grew up, so that they cannot care for others and feel the happiness of life in adulthood. Modern psychology believes that only when a person understands that the imperfection of life is the natural norm and learns to accept the shortcomings of himself and the people around him, can he learn how to love himself and have the ability to love others, so I did not paint Narcissus himself like many traditional painters, and my beautiful teenager lying in the daffodil can be anyone who learns to reconcile with the world. She seemed to wake up from a worried slumber, open her eyes to see her beautiful self surrounded by flowers, and although she was still immersed in darkness, the flowers illuminated by the warm light would eventually illuminate the warmth in the hearts of everyone who saw this painting.
After months of adjustment, I gradually found a way to live happily in Auckland, and found a house with a yard near the school, a white wooden house, a green fence, daisies, cherry blossoms, wisteria, hollyhocks, and flowers blooming in all seasons. The best thing is that there are dozens of Xiangfei bamboo planted on the edge of the fence on the east side, and during the rainy season, the rain on the eaves will form a thick moss on the grass, and in the southern hemisphere, which is thousands of miles away from home, it is really a rare thing to be able to sit in the tranquility of the oriental garden. On the night of the moon, the moon shadow crossed the bamboo shadow, and then through the shutters, carrying the fragrance of Su Xi's elegance into the bedroom, printed on the newly painted human body, the black background, the cold gray body, always felt that there was a deviation from my cool and carefree life state at that time, what were the shortcomings. I lay on the bed and watched the moon shadow with the bamboo shadow swaying with the wind on the human body, and gradually, some white flower shadows appeared in my eyes, and the excitement of drowsiness was completely gone. The next morning, I began to change the black background to dark green, on the top of the goose yellow daffodils, around the girl, on the cold gray skin, with classical techniques, the thin cover stained with a layer of pink, so that the girl's skin has a little vitality, light pink purple and goose yellow daffodils complement each other, complement each other, so that the picture color contrast and harmonization. She lay at the water's edge, her long brown hair floating on the water, shining with golden light, her eyes slightly closed, stretching her body comfortably, as if to break free of the invisible cage, and wake up from her deep sleep, she would see not only her own reflection, but also a world of flowers and shadows to accompany him.
"Everything is as It Should Be" (sold) Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 40cm×40cm
When you go to Mengshan to sketch, you will always be attracted by the persimmons hanging on the branches, orange and yellow, and warm up a humble autumn life with joy and joy. The people there, as warm as this persimmon, saw me sitting on the grass, sent a maza, and when they were thirsty, they brought water over and stuffed the freshly grounded peanuts into my pockets, pomegranates, sweet potatoes, peaches... I remember a boy who couldn't help climbing the branches of the mountain to pick persimmons, came over to carry water, handed the flat shoulder up and said: Be careful, don't fall. That was more than twenty years ago when I was a sophomore in college. Later, I heard that the local farm opened and began to do business with outsiders, and the things I talked about will no longer be there. But this painting full of blessings has been hanging in my family's restaurant. When I see him, I always feel hopeful when I think of the unknown people I have received in those years. It was later taken to New Zealand, where it was used as the title page of a brochure at the kings college arts festival and was collected by collectors.
I like to combine the mood of poetry, the rhythmic factor of music with the atmosphere of the picture, so that the picture can better serve the inner feelings. Compared with simply imitating nature, actively processing the picture not only finds a way to talk to nature for the heart, but also perceives the self from it and gradually realizes the way out of life.
"Green Plantain" Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 60cm×60cm
This group of landscapes was painted when Wuyuan was sketching. The staggered decorative beauty of the pink wall Dewa inspired me to break the realistic and realistic approach of landscape sketching in the past, and move forward in a more subjective and decorative direction. First of all, the Western plane composition theory is adopted from the composition to dilute the spatial relationship between the object and the image, so that the picture tends to be flat; Pay more attention to the staggered combination of formal factors such as lines and color surfaces between plantain leaves; In order to avoid falling into the trap of ordinary decorative painting, I added the component of calligraphy writing to the pen, as far as possible in one stroke, and added the brushwork of Chinese painting to the tendon treatment of the banana leaf; While adopting the western Impressionist theory of painting, the color changed the original yellow-green of the banana leaves to blue-green, which was intended to take the ancient poem "Yellow plantain, green cherry." The meaning of ".
"Before the Rainy Mountain at Two or Three Points" Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 60cm×50cm
The rain in Jiangnan is very willful. Obviously a sunny weather, unconsciously it rained a little, just painted yellow-green in the real rain turned gray-green, or leave him alone, just paint the sky cloudy, the ground or the feeling of sunshine is not bad, this is not more in line with the changing weather characteristics of the south? Who said that painting must run after reality, and the rain in the east and the sun in the west is the real look of reality. "Two or three o'clock before the rain mountain", the road turned and looked up.
I consciously change the structural space of the house, arrange its length and size according to aesthetic needs, as far as possible to reflect the rhythmic beauty of the block surface and the dotted line, so that the roof slope seen is more flat, so that it and the blue-gray sky are more emotionally coordinated, creating a quiet and distant picture atmosphere.
"Flowers Floating From Zero Water to Flow", Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas, 50cm×70cm
One day, the sun was so sultry that I hid in a small courtyard and was temporarily cool. The small courtyard lives along the river, and there is an old man living in it all year round, empty nest, few people come, I gave him all the nutrition products brought from home.
To enter and exit his house, you need to pass through a bamboo bridge, on the wall of the bridge, loofah vines, lentil seedlings began to turn yellow, in the distance a small octagonal building, is the stage where farces were staged, many sketching students hid in it to cool down, colorful, not lively. And the old man is in this bustle, with empty eyes, enjoying loneliness. This reminds me of an old saying: flowers float by themselves, and the "flowers" in the picture are actually yellowing vine leaves hanging at the water's edge, with no flowers to admire.
In order to express the mood at that time, I arranged those bustle and prosperity in the far distance of the picture, changing into colorful points of color, near the still and cold river in front of me, reflecting the sagging autumn leaves. I consciously reduced the original purity of the colors, making the river calm and deep, reflecting the emotions at the same time, but also strengthening the contrast of the picture. When transporting the pen, he did not care about the appearance of the entity, but deliberately transformed the reflection of the river and the sky into dots of various shapes and sizes, like the dot moss in Chinese freehand, to express the artistic conception of the drifting years.
Qi Baishi said: It does not seem to be deceitful, it is too similar to kitsch, and the beauty of painting is between similarity and dissimilarity, so as to get close to the essence of art. Because art is a way to present thinking, what we have to do is to strive to find a better way to express thinking, whether it is technique or theory, only around the thinking, there is value in existence. All technology cannot be equated with art itself, but only as a means of pointing to art, and no matter what stage of the artistic path you are on, do not let technology become your goal. You are walking on the road close to art, not deviating.
"In the Clouds" Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 80cm×80cm
"Flowers on the Scene" (sold) Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 100cm×60cm
"Flower Good Moon Full Moon" (sold) Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 50cm×50cm
"Encounter" (sold) Zhang Xianling Oil on canvas 50cm×40cm
Artist Profile Zhang Xianling is an oil painting artist.
Born in July 1972 in Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
From 1992 to 1996, he studied oil painting in the Fine Arts Department of Shandong Normal University, where he studied under Professor Kong Xinmiao and obtained a bachelor's degree.
In 2001, he studied at the Oil Painting Advanced Seminar in Krivanos, Russia.
2012-2015 In the study of the integration of culture and painting in the Academy of Fine Arts of Shandong Academy of Arts, the tutor Mao Daizong obtained a master's degree in fine arts.
In 2017, he studied classical oil painting techniques with Teacher Li Xiaogang at the Beijing Li Ke dye painting academy.
He has been engaged in art education and oil painting art creation for many years, and has achieved remarkable results. He is now a member of Shandong Artists Association and Shandong Oil Painting Artists Association. Artistic Advisor to the New Lan Artists Union.
His works have participated in many important exhibitions at home and abroad, won many awards, and are collected by private individuals.
In 2002, the oil painting "Don't Forget Me" was selected into the Second Shandong Small Oil Painting Exhibition of Shandong Oil Painting Association;
In 2006, the oil painting "Falling, State" won the gold medal of the Shandong Provincial Art Academy Art Competition;
In 2006, the oil painting "May" won the third prize of Jinan Calligraphy and Painting Photography Exhibition;
In 2007, the oil painting "Yuanshan" won the gold medal of the Shandong Provincial Art Academy Art Competition;
In 2008, the oil painting "Snow Falling Silently" won the gold medal of the Shandong Provincial Art Academy Art Competition;
In 2009, the oil painting "Snow Falling Silent" was selected for the 11th National Art Exhibition Shandong Division.
In 2010, he won the first prize of the Provincial Art Teachers' Basic Skills Competition.
In 2013, the oil painting "And Listen" won the Excellent Work Award of the "Lu" Oil Painting Exhibition of Shandong Provincial Artists Association;
In 2014, the oil painting "Floating Clouds" won the Excellent Work Award of the "Lu" Oil Painting Exhibition of Shandong Provincial Artists Association;
In 2015, the oil painting "Tonight and Tonight" was selected as a touring exhibition of excellent works in the "10th Culture and Art Festival" in Shandong Province;
In 2015, the oil painting "Sea" won the "Outstanding Award" of the "Outstanding Works Exhibition of Shandong Provincial Art Academy"
Since 2017, he has been living in Xinlan and has carried out art appreciation and art exchange activities between the Internet, schools and communities.
He has participated in several local art exhibitions and donated part of the auction proceeds to the School Education Foundation.
In 2021, he was invited to join the New Lan Artists Alliance and was also an art consultant.
In 2021, his work "Tonight and Tonight" won the Excellence Award of the Realistic Surreal Painting Competition at the Charming Hunchback Art Museum in the United States.
"Flower Good Moon" won the Honorary Award of the 3rd International Flower Art Competition in the United States.