Imagery Of Heart

Thanks to my religious belief and occupation, I often pay attention to paintings of Buddhist genre and compare the painting styles and composition features during different historical periods, ranging from Lu Luojia’s Six Venerables in Tang dynasty, Guan Xiu’s  Sixteen Arhats and Shi Ke’s Two Zen Patriarchs in Five dynasties, Li Gonglin’s Vimalakirti In Sermon, Liu Songnian’s Celestial Beauty Scattering Flowers and Liang Kai’s Eight Monks in Song dynasty, Yan Hui’s Guanyin Bodhisattva in Yuan dynasty, anonymous Arhats and Wu Bin’s 500 Arhats in Ming dynasty to Zhang Daqian’s Imageries of Bodhisattva in modern times. I am keen on creating unique paintings which can both manifest the spirits of great wisdom and great mercy of Buddhas and fully display the graceful characteristics of my brushwork. Under his brush, the Buddha figures are all with an clear air and a solemn face, appearing merciful. I visited the famous four grottoes and many other temples to carefully study the shaping features of Buddha figures and frescos. I used to see a stone Buddha head statue in Shanxi Art Museum. It is the most beautiful Buddha figure I have ever seen. The White Ceramic Avalokitesvara Statue which was created by He Chaozong in Ming dynasty is also a peerless masterpiece. Apart from appreciation, I can learn much of Buddha figure shaping from all inherited and private-collected Buddha figure artwork like bronze, wood and ivory Buddha statues.  

I believe the crucial thing of making of Buddha figure is the depiction and mastering degree of its face and Mudrā. A face like the full moon symbolizes completeness and implies being wealthy, blessing, and generous; while a Mudrā is a mark to identify a Buddha and the corresponding description to its mantra. Being pure in spirit, clear in air, merciful, restrained and unworldly are the conceptions I am pursuing while painting Buddha figures.  

I paint the figure of Avalokitesvara, because the belief in Avalokitesvara in Southern Fujian and the pray for her saving of the miserable from sufferings when she hears their cries. According to the Universal Chapter of Avalokitesvara, Avalokitesvara can be personified into tens of thousands and has no fixed figure format. Therefore, Avalokitesvara figures in historical dynasties also differ in thousands ways. If there is a figure criteria, it should be the author’s upright belief and understanding in Buddhism and a visualization of the imagery of his heart.  

By Lin Liangfeng at Xinyuan Bookstore in Xiamen on Jul.16,2009