Painting the Age of Innocence Through Female Eyes

 

When one grows up, there always rises nostalgia for the age of youthful innocence. It is in later years that people come to realize how precious childhood is. But the theme of childhood in painting always exhibits a sense of straight-forwardness that can be too bold or wayward for a delicate, graceful painting style. But in Tan Shan’s case, this tension is rather a chance than a challenge, a boast than a barrier. For us, the combination of an elegant style with lively imagination is itself a meaningful topic.

 

Tan Shan is passionate about painting from a very young age. This passion is greatly furthered by her period of study in the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It must be out of her own personality that she has chosen Chinese painting, especially gongbi painting, as her medium of creation. And her growth was rapid. In university, she already was skilled at painting realistic items: mountains, rivers, human figures, flowers and animals – she captures their spirits and also gave them beautiful colours. Her accomplishment both as a highly skilled painter and a dedicated art pursuer enabled her to finish her higher education with First Class Honours.

 

Tan Shan grew up in the countryside. Life there is very simple; however, the ever-changing scenery has endowed her with inexhaustible imagination and a pure mood for art creation. Her childhood items, such as carousel, oil lamp, toys, insects, kittens and wild flowers, are all found in her paintings, and by depicting these items she has built up own world full of imagination. She has even established her own unique sense of humour by painting ordinary items with wild imagination and careful composition. From these, we can directly see her subtle emotions.

 

The more than 20 paintings exhibited here are the result of her relentless hard work this year. The topics range from scenery, human figures, to fauna and flora, etc. There is a “ carousel series “ of works developed directly out of her imagination with carousels. The 3 paintings that place mountains and rivers into daily containers subtly embody a Buddhist teaching that every micro object can reflect the world. The two insect paintings are surrealist works loaded with implicit meanings that can only be decrypted upon close viewing. And the two paintings with kittens are realistic works that also brim with fun imagination.

 

Tan Shan is the most outstanding student I have ever taught. She has excellent talent and a conscientious working style. I firmly believe in her potential in developing herself into a top artist.

 

Tong Kam Tang

Department of Fine Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong 

 

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綺羅粉黛寫童心－鄭丹珊繪畫作品序

 

當一個人長大以後，總會懷念兒時生活的種種。天真無邪、充滿憧憬和豐富幻想的童心，顯得尤其寶貴。童心放在繪畫中，往往展現出一種稚拙、大膽、直接的風貌，這似乎與具體而微的技巧性畫風大相逕庭，二者難以融合。對於鄭丹珊，以細緻的技巧結合富想像性的童心，是她在繪畫上的發展方向，這種表達方式饒有意義，又頗具開創性。

 

丹珊自幼便醉心繪畫，入讀香港中文大學藝術系後，可說是如魚得水，得以接受了全面的藝術訓練。基於個人性情的偏好，她選擇了中國畫作為創作媒介，尤其擅於工筆畫。修讀大學期間，她已是一個多面手，舉凡山水、人物和花鳥，她都具備一定的寫實能力，既有細緻精準的描畫技巧，又長於使用繽紛的色彩，繪畫所見所想。她具備繪畫的天賦，亦以心裡對藝術的熱情，孜孜不倦地創作，這種後天的努力，使她在畢業時以極其優秀的成績（一級榮譽學士學位）為大學生活劃上完美的句號。

 

丹珊的童年是在鄉間度過的。相比城市豐富的物質，鄉間的生活顯得簡樸，然而，大自然的變化和美麗卻造就了她浮想聯翩的特質；而無憂無慮的童年生活又往往使她帶著一種單純的心境進行創作。她筆下的各種形象，如木馬、油燈、玩具、昆蟲、小貓、野花等，正是童年熟悉的物事，如今都成了創作的靈感，築起了一個豐富而多變的幻想世界。這些點點滴滴的物事看似平凡，但結合了她別出心裁的構圖和想像，幻化成一種超乎現實的意境，有時更有一種幽默感。這一切都散發著作者的情感，值得細細品嘗，體會當中的意味。

 

是次展出的二十餘作品，是丹珊這年的創作成果，從題材而言，山水、人物、花鳥、動物、植物都有。其中多張作品可稱為木馬系列，以木馬為母題而發展出來的畫作；三幅山水畫則以青綠山水縮置於日常器皿裡，頗有「納須彌於芥子」的趣味；兩幅昆蟲畫採用超現實手法而成，當中實有隱喻之意，是需要觀者慢慢細味的作品。最後，兩幅以小貓為題材的作品雖較為寫實，但觀畫者若能用心觀賞，仍能尋得點點畫趣。

丹珊是我系近期畢業生中極其優秀的一位，其天賦與努力俱到。相信若能繼續努力，得到良好的造就，將來的成就必無可估量。

 

唐錦騰
於香港中文大學藝術系

 

 

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認識丹珊是先見其畫，後遇其人，人如其畫，二十多歲的小姑娘，清純，內向，含苞待放。

 

丹珊是幸運的女孩子，一個有豐富想象力的女孩子，走在藝術創作的道路上，是必然，也是幸運的；

 

一個思想縝密、勤奮、不惜力的女孩子從事工筆畫創作，天造地設，也是一種幸運；

 

丹珊就讀中文大學，師從優秀的老師，畢業後以自己的愛好和特長爲職業，更是不可多得的幸運。

 

從事中國工筆畫的藝術家們幾十年來努力不懈、突破因循守舊的花鳥魚蟲格局，出現了雲南畫派的丁绍光、蒋铁峰，人物畫家胡永凱、何家英，畫虎專家馮大中，當代水墨的佼佼者徐累、曾健勇等等一批傑出人才，將工筆畫帶到一個嶄新階段，成爲當代水墨的中堅力量。在香港，也產生了毫不遜色的石家豪、徐沛之、黃向藝、張惠文等新生力量。丹珊是其中一員。

 

丹珊畫馬，借馬喻志，抒發情意，是出自對生命及大自然的熱愛。遊樂場歡樂的木馬散發出對逝去不久的童年生活依依不捨之情，也隱喻時局的逡巡不前。“洗頭水”、“香奈兒”、“杜蕾斯”……表現了畫家的幽默。“馬照跑”、“蜻蜓”是對當下政情的感觸。再進一步的“青綠山水”系列是當代藝術家對傳統的領悟及反思。

 

丹珊有強烈的藝術追求，有嚴格的專業訓練，年輕的藝術家需要的是大家的鼓勵與支持。我們爲丹珊做畫展，也希望爲更多的香港年輕藝術家做畫展，使一朵朵朝氣蓬勃的花朵在香港藝術園地裏綻放。

 

方毓仁
2015年秋

 

 

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HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS

City talk | Terence Chang Cheuk-cheung 7 Jan 2021
 

Artist Sam Cheng Tan-shan sent me a picture of herself, taken with her artwork Feng Yong, or Bees Embrace.
The peonies featured were purchased at Fa Hui flower market.
 

"The week-long life of the flowers, from budding to blooming to withering, encapsulates the beauty of nature," she observed.
 

Though I haven't seen Cheng for a few years, she still loves to paint plants in the realistic gongbi style.

Her works are exhibited year-round at galleries in Hong Kong and Taiwan. She splits the sale proceeds 50-50 with the galleries, which is not bad actually.
But making a living by selling paintings isn't as easy as most people think, so Cheng also founded an interior design studio, Moulding Concept.
 

The work she does there is as much art as her paintings.

"Everything is art - a painting, home design, a canvas, a wall, matching items inside a home," she said.
 

"Conscientious home design not only solves problems, but also shapes the owners' aesthetic perspective of life."
 

I asked Cheng about her concept of aesthetics, to which she replied: "It centers on the idea of 'home' which stands for family as well as the relationship between people. A design that brings people closer is a good design, a beautiful design.
 

"That's why I emphasize space in my designs, using a simple setting to set off the love between people. A good home design invites families and friends to get together and spend time together, enjoying the company of each other."
 

She showed me a few of her designs, which all employed warm colors with furniture that matched nicely, exuding a harmonious atmosphere that makes people feel comfortable, in the same way her gongbi paintings do.
 

"The traditional gongbi technique is still my favorite creative media, but the subject matters are chosen more freely, from people and things around me," she said. "Lately, that's been cats."
 

"Why cats?" I asked.
 

"Because I am fascinated by cats' attitude toward life. They know how to enjoy solitary time and are unperturbed as time flows by," she explained.
 

"If we want to get to know ourselves deeper, we need to carve out time to spend on our own too."
 

So after finishing her day's work at the design studio, she spends time with herself and paints cats, flowers and bees in pieces like Feng Yong, which is about making our talent shine, even if life is short. 

Terence Chang Cheuk-cheung is the retired headmaster of Diocesan Boys School