Visitors Impressed by the Vivid and Expressive Skills of Professor KUO Yen-Chiao Traditional Chinese Ink Paintings
Professor KUO Yen Chiao’s Traditional Chinese Ink Painting Exhibition held at Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery Auckland has been well received by the locals since its opening on 29th May. The visitors were impressed by the vivid and expressive skills of the artist, using simple lines to sketch the masterpieces which brings the magnificent nature of the pieces to life.
On 15th June, Alan Watson and his wife visited the exhibition after their meal at the Water Drop Tea House. They had seen the Magnificence of Embroidery Exhibition by artist Hong-Ying YAO which still clings to their memories. Mr and Mrs Watson looked closely at each of the artworks and as a magician, Alan said it is amazing that an artist could draw landscapes, portraits, seasons, and so on with only paintbrushes and ink. Mrs Watson also admired that some of the paintings only have a few simple strokes in showing the artist’s different artistic conception. For instance, the gaps between the woods and the mountains set a misty background, from the trend of the fog we can also determine it is a forest in the morning setting; from the flow of the streams, we can imagine which hilltop they came from. Traditional Chinese painting is amazing, and it fulfills people’s imagination! The artist's observation of the environment is extremely subtle.
Kaisu Herhan visited the exhibition with a friend on 16th June. Kaisu enjoyed the work Birds Twitter of the Time very much, looking at the painting she imagines herself in the painting, standing in the shade and cooling off while listening to the birds’ twitter. This brings about a very relaxed feeling! Coincidentally, it happened to be Kaisu's birthday on that day and both were extremely happy to enjoy the beautiful Traditional Chinese Paintings on the special day, Kaisu said: Every time I come to the Temple, there is a surprise!
Bavbca McKenzie and his friends are art lovers. Bavbca noticed the stroke of the work Wood Cutter Going Home was different, once she learned that the painting was painted with chopsticks, she commented filled with surprise: How can you paint with chopsticks? What a talent! In this painting, the stroke is relatively hard while the calligraphy is very soft, this is a form of balance. Bavbca's friends said that in Western painting, artists try to fill in the blanks as much as possible, however, in Chinese painting it is the opposite. Leaving blank spaces allows room for imagination.
Jing Liu, a painter from Hamilton also visited the exhibition. Jing as well as her father paints Traditional Chinese Paintings. Her favorite painting is The Yangtze River is Roaring. Jing said: The painting is well laid out and its appearance is delicate. Looking at this painting can make you feel open-minded and calm as the river’s water. The artist's calligraphy is delicate and smooth, like clouds and flowing water. I can see the artist’s profoundness in their work.
Artis Brucilla Weight and her friends Christabel Rimmer, Doreen Brown and others came as a group of five to the exhibition over the weekend. As they have learned Traditional Chinese Painting and calligraphy, they looked closely, discussed in detail, and learnt about the artist's work. Brucilla was impressed by the Coastal Scenery as the painting was created 70 years ago in 1951, yet the the colour of the painting had not changed at all. She said it was astonishing how stable the pigment of Chinese painting is! They then happily spent nearly two hours taking pictures in the exhibition hall.