Chinese ink painting is the visual artistic expression that most closely corresponds to the emotional expression of poetry, so I tried painting with ink wash. During the preparation of Zencat’s porcelain exhibition entitled Poetry Transcends Time and Space, my mother passed away unexpectedly, and I lost the most valuable thing in my life. I fell into a desperate sadness, as if I had lost the sky, the stars, the sun, and the moon; it seemed to me that even the flowers and the grass had disappeared. My heart was calling out for my mother whenever I went to sleep or woke up, and I spent most of my time painting at my desk with tears running down my face.  I also had the feeling that my mother’s sense of truthfulness and beauty were visible in the ink wash, reminding me that it was she who brought me into the world.  I now have a deep understanding of how Chinese artists express their emotions through this particular media; ink wash.  To paint with ink wash calms down my heart so that I am able to transcend the sorrow caused by the loss of my mother. Desperation is transformed into peace.

Both poetry and painting make marks upon my destiny.  Can anyone imagine that a girl who came from a poor remote mountain area is today able to operate her own gallery and have her own exhibition?  With the grace of God, my mother will look down from heaven with delight on my exhibition.  I would like to express my gratitude to two people in particular: Catherine Cheng, who has put forth great effort in realizing my dream; and Feng Zhongyun, who as a fine teacher has guided my learning in the art of ink painting, and continues to help me to reap the spiritual benefits of practicing this art.

Finally I wanted to say: “Who took my blue sky away?  I wanted to get it back.”

Xueyi at Blackbridge Art Village, 2008

Translated by Catherine Cheng

Edited by Caryn Voscuil

Who Took My Blue Sky Away?

Xueyi Painting Solo Exhibition

By Caryn M. Voskuil Ph.D.

Poetry on Canvas

         Wallace Stevens once said that he wrote poetry to help people live their lives.  It can also be said more generally of all art that it is directed towards the same purpose – that is, to help those who engage with it to touch the life of the artist and, in doing so, see their own lives in new or more profound ways.  Certainly, this is the object of great art; yet today it seems that many artists are obsessed with commercialism and pecuniary ambition.  Certainly the arts must be patronized in a civilized society, but when art is created solely for the purpose of pandering to the collector, then the resultant art is soulless and serves as mere decoration.  Such art may put food on the table, but it does not inspire or enlighten – that is – it does not help people to live their lives.

         What a breath of fresh air it is, then, to experience the works of Xueyi.  In an industry hastening towards frivolity and cliché, the poet Xueyi’s engaging works open a world of innocence, pain, emancipation and hope to an audience otherwise surrounded by imitation and triviality.  A newcomer to the visual arts, Xueyi’s paintings are illustrations of her poetic meditations.  The simple, innocent style of her ink wash paintings emits an energy and freshness that perfectly match the subjects about which she writes – her childhood, a constant longing for her mother, and her struggles as a youth which affected her development as a poet.

         Her oil paintings are a result of her attempt to process the inner sadness and desperation which resulted from the recent passing of her mother – a significant force in her life and in her imagination.  Her works in oil are drenched with pathos and emotion, as the poet’s own suffering soul appears to be rendered in pigment and earth.  After the loss of that which she valued most in this life -  her mother - Xueyi was desperate and couldn’t sleep.  As she wept, she picked up an ink wash brush to physically express her desolation, and was transported by her mother’s memory back to the beautiful and intense moments of her childhood.  The process made clear to her the power of the ink wash media to express the deepest emotions of Chinese artists.  Through the act of painting, the grief in her heart was converted to tranquility.  Thus Xueyi discovered that painting, like poetry, was a balm to her soul that could help her overcome suffering and difficulties in life.  Observing the works in this exhibit, the viewer is likewise transported to a realm where childhood lives in perpetual reminiscence, and suffering is rendered beautiful and meaningful by the passage of time and the filter of memory.

         Take, for example, the dreamlike quality of the ink wash paintings depicting scenes from Xueyi’s young life.  Each work is an homage to a long held memory that shines like a dancing pool of light on a shady patch of summer grass.  The views of nature and the young girl depicted in these paintings are from Xueyi’s memory, but they become echoes of each of our childhoods, and help us through memory to regain that simple joy which we have left so far behind.  Such reflection brings calm and peace, helping us to live our present lives with greater serenity.

         Another striking work is Sunflower Above Flooding Water.  The colors evoke the shadows of memory, and indeed the image is one from the artist’s distant past.  Xueyi paints the sunflowers that were prevalent in her hometown using the tones of a black and white photographic image.  Sunflowers are a reminder to Xueyi of not only her childhood, but of the call of the wild that led her in her youth to explore the inner regions of her imagination as well as to move beyond the boundaries of her rustic mountain village.

         In Tree in Dawn, a watery memory weeps down the canvas in blue and white, an image simultaneously melancholy and stunningly beautiful.  The impressionistic style is well suited to this dreamy vision of a cool, refreshing pool of water hidden deep within an innocent and hopeful past.  Similarly Floral Dream uses impressionistic technique and cool colors to evoke a simple bouquet of wild flowers, perhaps sitting on a mother’s sunny sideboard, long-ago wilted but still vibrant in the memory of the artist.

         More emotional and turbulent in tone is the work entitled Sky Gone Far.  The simplicity of the composition does not overshadow the intense feeling evident in the deep red and black pigments, swirling as though manipulated by a powerful wind sparked by a child’s stormy emotions.  In sharp contrast, Weeping Willow Dream reflects an almost spiritual serenity and quiet.  It is as if the child’s joy and sorrow have been played out, leaving no more than a peaceful acceptance of the comingled anguish and ecstasy of living.

         To move through this exhibition of Xueyi’s paintings is to dance emotionally through the conflicting sensations of human life, and to come out in the end with a more profound acceptance of its agony and of its beauty – realizing that without the former, one could not fully experience nor appreciate the latter.

"Her art is deeply inspiring. I am especially inspired by her subtle use of color and turning color into forms that convey an inner life of great beauty. I am also amazed at the broad range and breathtaking quantity of her work. It grabs attention and penetrates deep into the memory. I carry her images away from the page and keep seeing them throughout the hours into an enduring future.

She has rare instincts about human feelings.  This has always been clear in her poetry. Now with the amazing paintings her sensitivity is even more clear and powerful. I almost feel like she is writing a diary when I see her paintings."

                                                           by John McAlister, PHD 66', Yale University, USA

"We LOVE Xueyi's paintings, that you sent us. This is true art -- capturing universal meaning in beautiful and the highly individual images."                                     by Sidney Rittenburg

Who took away my blue sky?

Xueyi’s poetry and paintings provide an unadulterated artistic expression of sorrow as seen from the light.

“Certainly the arts must be patronised in a civilised society, but when art is created solely for the purpose of pandering to the collector, then the resultant art is soulless and serves as mere decoration.” So, boldly says Caryn M. Voskuil PhD in her introduction to Xueyi’s “Who Took My Blue Sky Away?” solo exhibition, showing at the XYZ Gallery.

Her introduction is a moving and articulate discussion into the poetry and paintings of her friend and the gallery’s owner, Xueyi, which she goes on to describe as “a breath of fresh air”; an emotional and innocent contrast to the “frivolity and cliché”, the “imitation and triviality” that is currently engulfing the art world.

Xueyi’s exhibition is a calming collection of paired poems and paintings. Many of the ink wash paintings have emerged from the memories of her childhood, of times when she wondered around in the fields searching for her mother, who, suffering from a mental illness, often went missing. And then, many of Xueyi’s oil paintings are her new-found process of dealing with the anguish she experienced with her mother’s recent passing away.

Xueyi says that through poetry and painting she was able to come to the conclusion that when God takes something away from you, He gives something of equal or greater value back. While her own journey may be a religious realisation, the exhibition is not pushing any particular beliefs, but is an open expression of her life and Xueyi hopes that from it visitors will be able to come away with an understanding that there are many perspectives from which to look at sorrow and hardship. And while her paintings, like any visual artwork, offer all visitors a dialogue without language barriers, Xueyi’s poems, lovingly translated by curators Catherine Cheng and Dr VosKuil, also provide the English-speaking audience a rare chance to experience contemporary Chinese poetry with undiminished expression.

by Shannoon at Beijinger Dec. 2008

XYZ Art Gallery, 798 Art District. Until 13 December. Tel: 8459 9299  www.xyzartgallery.com Poems reprinted with  permission.

Rain Will Fall

Rain will fall

My mum and I wait in the still valley

Wild winds blow down a tree, and briefly

I see a corner of the blue sky.

Rain will fall

Mum tells me –

After rainfall

A rainbow will appear in the sky

Night is Near

Violet blooms in dark night

I forget the direction of your return

Love seems to be a casualty

I still sing in my illusion