Observing the Mind, Surveying the Realm Image Photograph-16 (Série Jeu du Miroir Photos -16) 2007 each 100x80cm

Observing the Mind, Surveying the Realm Image Photograph-15 (Série Jeu du Miroir Photos -15) 2007 each 100x80cm

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Observing the Mind, Surveying the Realm Image Photograph-001 (Série Jeu du Miroir Photos -001) 2007 each 100x80cm

Author: Ms. Yen Hsueh-hua: Council Member of the Chinese Cultural Heritage Society, Executive Director of Nan San San Small Collection, Art Enthusiast, and Collector. In early autumn 2005, Mr. Hung Cheng-tung, a painter from Kaohsiung, introduced me to Mr. Chen Chi-hsiang, a painter and art critic who had returned to Taiwan from Paris to visit relatives. That day, while viewing the paintings stored in my home, his sincere words and gaze revealed his passionate love for art. Over the following two weeks, he invited Professor Hung Shang-hsiang, traveling from Spain, to visit our home. We sat together admiring old ink wash albums, our conversation punctuated by sighs of admiration and praise. The three of us felt as though we had known each other for sixty years; sincerity knows no borders, age, or gender. What bound us was a pure love for art, devoid of pretense or affectation. Watching Shang-hsiang shed tears while reading the "emptiness" in Xugu’s paintings, every one of us present was moved. Chen Chi-hsiang simply waited silently, guarding that emotion without uttering a word. Was this not the fermentation of artistic purity? That night, happiness and joy filled everyone's hearts. Late into the evening, Chi-hsiang gathered frangipani flowers scattered across the garden floor, carrying their fragrant scent as he walked home under the moonlight.

Born in Pingtung, Taiwan, in 1956, Chen Chi-hsiang graduated from the National College of Arts in 1979. He studied abroad in France in 1982, engaging in artistic creation and research. During his twenty-plus years in France, besides refining his artistic practice, he participated in numerous contemporary art exhibitions. Deeply enamored with Parisian culture, he married a French woman and successively published Paris Art Journey in 1996 and Flower City Flower Picking in 1998. In 2002, he published European Postmodern Art, using close-up perspectives and on-site exhibition images to elucidate the overall state of European art in the 1980s, offering thoughtful insights into the current artistic landscape.

In March 2008, Chen visited Beijing, delivering two in-depth lectures for young artists there. Regarding this trip, unexpected delight permeated his writings: "In this globalized map, as long as one possesses a macroscopic vision and a sincere attitude, isn't it true that all people within the four seas are brothers?" (Quoted from Chen Qi-xiang's blog). He also stated, "Respecting differences has become the most excellent gift of friendship today. As D.H. Lawrence said: 'Each continent has its own great spirit of place, each nation has its characteristics; that is home, that is homeland. On this earth, different places have different vitality, different oscillations, different chemical smells, different stars, different qualities. You may call it what you will, but the spirit of place is a great reality.'" (Quoted from Chen Chi-hsiang's blog). From these words, one can see his inclusivity, having traveled widely and strived to promote art. It is the spirit of "selflessness" and "altruism," which can only originate from "sincerity." Without sincerity, nothing would happen.

We know that artistic creation cannot be separated from the exploration of life and the perception and enlightenment of existence. Artists often experience the spiritual power of the "Middle Way" through repeated refinement and clarification. The Middle Way refers to the meaning expounded by the essence of life; it is a supra-conscious standpoint. Artists often transcend relativity in the expression of the relationship between self and object, and may even perceive harmony amidst conflict.

Observing Chen Chi-hsiang’s series Observing the Mind, Surveying the Realm (2007), he sometimes decorates mirrors with monochromatic real objects to reflect a beautiful background, then places flowers, stones, dry bones, spoons, etc., on the mirror surface to create effects of virtual and real reflection, before photographing them as artworks.

From Chen’s creations, it is easy to detect his aesthetic ideal full of humanism. He collects objects visible, usable, or even destined for disposal in daily life as materials for his work. Yet, he endows these withered or static lives with infinite vitality and strength. He allows the虚实 (virtual and real) images reflected in the mirror to present an extremely calm and rational beauty, letting glory and decay reflect each other into a Zen realm, and allowing water randomly splashed onto the mirror surface to metaphorically suggest the disappearance of time and space.

The artist places withered flowers on the mirror surface; the lines of dry branches best express a cold beauty, presenting the quiet elegance of linear Chinese ink wash. Or, he paints a touch of blue or red on dried bones; the latter is full of colors suggesting triumph, implying the conflict of life and the magnificence of death. Or, he places a cold gray stone quietly on the mirror surface, letting it reflect the purity of beauty. Or, he places a burning candle on the mirror to reveal its temperature and brightness. The Observing the Mirror, Viewing the Mind series not only transcends relativity but also absoluteness. In these extremely rational creations, we see the artist’s ardent desire and pursuit of life. He presents the balance of three-dimensional space with a warm heart; the artist’s inner sense of happiness seems ready to burst forth, dancing romantically between modern and classical styles without leaving a trace. The Observing the Mirror, Viewing the Mind series aims to express what Qingliang Chengguan, the patriarch of the Huayan school, said: "To reach the pure source of the mind, one must know that the self-image is empty; what are form and appearance, virtual and real? Thoughts and worries originally have no origin." In postmodern aesthetics, the interplay of "abstraction" and "figurative" is often the domain artists wish to express most, and in this domain, they loudly proclaim its inviolability.

Work I5-16 Piece 1: The artist painted the entire canvas in vivid red, leaving a smaller rectangular blank space in the center, upon which a mirror with a blue frame was placed. These three elements arranged with formal beauty reflect romantic geometric shapes in the mirror. The misplaced space acts like a virtual illusion mirror; inside and outside the mirror, virtual and real coexist. He presents hidden inner aesthetics and intuition through strong colors and different visual forms. The calm arrangement of objects is order and also a form of self-discipline, revealing sensibility within rationality.

Work I5-16 Piece 2: Using the same technique, the artist placed a large round mirror on the red-painted canvas. Its diameter matched the square red canvas, creating strong tension. He placed a Chinese porcelain spoon on the mirror, inserting a lily of the valley flower into the spoon's handle hole. The spoon bears ancient Chinese totems, while below the mirror reflects pure white porcelain and the withered倒影 (reflection) of the lily of the valley. The artist’s calm handling method not only illustrates the contrast between Eastern and Western cultures but also, for Easterners living in a foreign land, these elements write of loneliness yet inherent independence, calling out homesickness in silence.

Work I3-14 Piece 1: The artist placed a large round mirror against a deep black background, setting a small oval stone on the mirror surface, illuminated by natural light. This work is full of tranquility and Zen契机 (opportunity/insight), like entering a realm where no one else exists. The artist does not view phenomena with physical eyes but contemplates and meditates with the eye of the mind, observing the mind and objects in the Zen realm until both are forgotten. The artistic conception of this work is extremely high; it is one of my favorite works, full of pure aesthetics and humanistic thinking.

Work I3-14 Piece 2: This work shares similarities with the aforementioned Piece 1, but the stone placed by the artist has higher brightness and is softer. He splashed water to create interest and decorated it with a petal, forming an extremely romantic landscape of "flowers in the mirror and the moon in the water." In the contrasting yet merging imagery of cold (stone) and hot (petal), he expresses a viewpoint of extremely high aesthetic purity. From this work, we can observe that any three-dimensional object placed on a mirror will double its reflection,唯独 (only) water does not cast a shadow. Its transparency is an intermediate state of existence; it shines silently and澄澈 (clearly), omnipresent, yet uncertain, uneasy, and fluid, but also beautiful.

Works 9-12 (1): This work still features a large round mirror placed before a black background. The obscure state behind and an animal bone on the mirror surface are adorned with dry branches and fruits, the fruits coated with decorative colors. The round mirror reflects the glory and decay of life. The圆满 (completeness/perfection) depicted by the round mirror reveals an unexpected helplessness of life; even with heavenly craftsmanship, one cannot retrieve the flowing years and time.

Works 9-12 (2): The artist truly went crazy playing with this series of round mirrors, unable to stop, unable to extricate himself. I like the artist's "play"; it is a posture of leisure and freedom, a mood of unbridled liberty. He placed red and blue ornaments on the dry bones, the ornaments covered with colorful pins. This scene reminds me of the mockery in "When one general achieves merit, ten thousand bones lie withered," and also resembles the tear stains remaining on chastity archways. I inserted Eastern thinking into Western artistic realms. The expression of these two completely different objects inside and outside the mirror is actually difficult. This experimental work successfully expressed the artist's unique Eastern sentiment.

Work 9-12 (3): The artist boldly installed a white porcelain spoon filled with cinnabar on the round mirror. An animal bone was placed above the spoon, with dry branches of distinct charm connected on either side. The elegant undulating lines of the dry branches resemble spirits dancing with clear shadows, reflecting in the round mirror as a rhythmic arc-shaped body. In the observation of "material nature" and "enlightened observation," the calm projection of the mirror makes the "ego" more real and clear.

Work 5-8 (4): At this moment, the artist holds a flower in contemplation, polishing the round mirror until it is spotless. Only green oxalis, white lilies of the valley, purple-red flowers, and a small white stone are captured in the mirror. The pure colors of red, white, and green are like the rising sun in the morning, or dewdrops sparkling crystal-clear under the sunlight, bright, clear, and full of joy. Among the series of round mirror works, this piece is the most refreshing to the heart. The declaration of "possessing happiness, approaching heaven" becomes evident here.

Observing Chen Chi-hsiang’s artistic creation is like walking on a bright mirror platform. He utilizes the characteristics of material nature—such as stones, dry branches, petals, and bones—to project the state of self-enlightenment through enlightened observation, transmitting realms beyond the reach of language. Through the correspondence between material nature and enlightenment, he achieves the broader vision he seeks. This vision knows no good or bad, high or low; its phase wants to pass through another wall, chiseling a hole in that high wall to let in light, and repeatedly polishing his heart, aided by a clear mind, striving for another round mirror of artistic life.

(I am deeply grateful for her care and卓越 (outstanding) artistic perspective. Xuehua is the most forward-thinking collector I have encountered in Taiwan, possessing unique insights and ecstatic passion for art. She is an enthusiastic promoter of art. Her devotion to art and humanistic concern, cultivation of local humanities and arts, dedication of universal love to the world, and unique understanding of beauty, all make one deeply feel this energy and wisdom far beyond the ordinary. She is someone I admire and revere in my heart. I am also grateful for her enthusiastic writing and for sharing this article with everyone.)