Intending to Present the Paradigm of Great Taiwanese Landscape Painting — Su Kuo-ching’s Solo Exhibition “Vanishing Landscapes/Time/Memory”

Text and images by Chen Chi-Hsiang

“The underlying tone of the exhibited works is a soulful aria full of sentimentality and sorrow. Although the colors are bright and vivid, behind the high saturation lies a true reflection of natural disasters, the impermanence of fate, the drifting of life, and the shadow of death. I use landscapes as proxies for the absurdity of existence, witnessing the hardships of the process. Perhaps the meaning of this exhibition lies in such an attempt to dilute or flatten these realities.”

Su Kuo-ching

Exhibition Dates: March 13 to April 3 Venue: Bank of Taiwan - Hallway Art Corridor

In an era that disregards the allegorical significance of landscape painting, Su Kuo-ching, a painter devoted to the genre, undoubtedly experiences a deep sense of frustration and loneliness. In today’s age where anything goes, what is wrong with expressing oneself through landscapes? How does one paint landscapes today? What kind of landscapes? How should modern or contemporary characteristics manifest in the appearance of landscapes? This is a major test. It seems Su Kuo-ching treats landscapes as a redemption of life, making them naturally become the local scenery of his own existence.

Landscapes are Su Kuo-ching’s subjective expression of inner contemplation triggered by scenes. He paints the landscapes of life or mental states in his mind using literary techniques. As he observes and references daily life, these visions constantly shift. He continues to seek the key to life to unlock the code of existence. His landscape paintings are records of this search, documenting what has vanished. Broadly speaking, his landscapes fall into three categories: urban landscapes (figurative), natural landscapes (imagistic), and inner landscapes (mental imagery). The German Symbolist painter C. David Friedrich said, “Landscape is the painter’s state of mind.” Su Kuo-ching believes this has two aspects: one is “the painter sees the world with the eye of the heart,” and the other is “the painter expresses his mental imagery world through landscapes.”

His landscapes are certainly not Eden; they possess a strong “aesthetic of solitude” and serve as metaphors for the painter’s personal life. The artist wrote: “As a painter engaged in plein air sketching, I open dialogues within natural landscapes. Moving the scene from the site to the studio onto the canvas, objective and subjective elements continuously merge and evolve, ultimately forming new life—a painting work. I am glad to be able to break free from the constraints of life, achieving immortality, not being destroyed by the disappearance of landscape, time, and memory. Alas, this is but a delusion. Paradoxically, we clearly see the threat of destruction yet face it calmly. Painting seeks to express the stages and processes mentioned above, to clarify the confusion of nature and restore the clarity and simplicity of landscapes. Thus, through each piece of work, I repeatedly recount various memories before the landscape disappears.”

Undoubtedly, landscapes touch the painter’s innermost consciousness, serving as a field and context of existence. Facing the meditation on current landscapes is inseparable from present emotions and experiences. Landscapes become the painter’s self-analysis, expressing feelings and insights about the human world. Through the visible and invisible, reference and metaphor, they elucidate the magnificent, turbulent scenery of the painter’s vast life. The artist says, “I use landscape painting to convey the common human emotions at the bottom of my heart.” With ambitious aspirations, he intends to present the paradigm of great Taiwanese landscape painting.