Original Publication at Ideat China: 创作山海间，许东荣的多重宇宙
Everything, Everywhere, All at once.
These artists seamlessly switch between multiple roles—creator, art manager, collector, gallery owner—within their multiverse.
This time, IDEAT visits the creative universe of artist Hsu Tung Lung.
Natural daylight floods in during the day, and oil paint on the brush is vigorously applied to the vast canvas, adding color not only to the artwork but also to every corner of the studio. Stacked cardboard boxes serve as tables, carpets, and experimental platforms for artistic creation. Hsu Tung Lung mixes oil paint on these boxes to create the texture of traditional Chinese ink, or picks up a book with ink-stained hands to seek inspiration and new possibilities. This is the daily routine in Hsu Tung Lung’s studio.
Located between mountains and seas in Tamsui, the studio is surrounded by old pines and boasts spacious interiors. Every day at noon, Hsu takes a break from painting to walk in the countryside, drawing inspiration from nature and contemplating the differences between Eastern and Western art, which he then freely integrates and practices.
Born in 1947, Hsu Tung Lung initially worked with jade. He incorporated Western artistic concepts into traditional Chinese jade carving, introducing abstract Western forms into the medium. This unconventional approach made him stand out and earned him the title of “the first modern jade carving artist.”
His first series of jade carvings, the “Chain” series, drew inspiration from chain symbols on ancient jade bi disks and abstract forms from oracle bone script, Qin bricks, Han tiles, and bronze inscriptions. These chain elements introduced a symbolic characteristic, freeing the work from traditional figurative styles and presenting a simple, modern form. This series, exploring the integration of Eastern and Western art, was first exhibited at Apollo Gallery in 1983.
After the “Chain” series, Hsu sought to soften the heavy feel of jade carving, enhancing the visual tension of his works. The second series, “Flowing Clouds and Water,” emerged in 2009. These sculptures, resembling floating ribbons, concealed the inherent hardness and heaviness of the material within the fluid lines. The varied rhythm of the lines, however, highlighted the jade’s intrinsic strength, creating a unique rhythm.
Expressive abstraction is a significant feature of Chinese art. Accordingly, Hsu distilled and practiced the differences between Eastern and Western sculpture from a “spiritual resemblance” perspective, transforming these insights into his creative methodology. In 2013, he began the “Da Xiang Wu Xing” series, inspired by characters from traditional Chinese mythology. He captured the dynamic essence of these figures, omitting facial features and expressions, leaving only the external contours to visually present the abstract Eastern spiritual qualities to the audience. The translucent white marble material added a halo effect, offering a fascinating experience of ambiguity.
In 2019, at the age of sixty, Hsu discarded various accumulated techniques, integrating his lifetime experiences and reflections, and began considering his creations from a philosophical perspective. Inspired by Zhuangzi’s “Xiao Yao You,” he used “Kun” and “Peng” as spiritual symbols in his sculptures and paintings, exploring the concepts of space and the meaning of existence. Painting became an extension of sculptural space, and sculpture became a recreation of painting.
“A painting that cannot be revised is merely a display of technique, failing to fully express the artist’s thoughts and concepts on the canvas. The completion of an artist’s work involves long-term brewing, sketching, integrating, selecting, and refining. Only then can the artwork present a profound vitality.” Hsu attempts to blend and dilute oil paints to resemble Chinese ink, using a large brush to apply color with calligraphic techniques of lifting, pressing, pausing, and sweeping, or large-scale splashing, referencing Huang Binhong’s ink accumulation method, Pu Xinyu’s “Spring Wind Brush Rhythm” light-heavy lines, and inspired by Qi Baishi’s shrimp painting techniques. He skillfully uses a wide brush to pull out abstract lines with multiple colors, creating a three-dimensional spatial sense on a two-dimensional plane, where each seemingly casual stroke is the result of continuous thought and experimentation.
Hsu Tung Lung uses his brush to explore time and space, hoping to present all the traces of his life on the canvas. From 2019 to 2023, he completed his milestone new painting series “Landscapes in Memory,” part of the “Xiao Yao You” series. These works continue his abstract and semi-abstract techniques, shaping “Kun” and “Peng” in more abstract concepts, sparking more imagination and artistic expression.
This painting retrospective “Peng” is a continuation of the 2019 sculpture exhibition “Kun,” and the second exhibition of his “Free and Easy Wandering” series. The main inspiration for the exhibited works comes from his reflections on nature and objects encountered at different stages of life, skillfully creating genuine works through “coincidence” and “opportunity” in life. Under his depiction, the minimalist forms of lines and colors integrate to form planar abstract colors and three-dimensional sculptures.
Throughout his life, from learning in the countryside to changing many jobs, having multiple roles, and interacting with various people, Hsu has gathered many colorful sketches and creative drafts. But when he closes his eyes, what he wants to present remains the colors in his heart and memory. The landscape changes and the eyes that view it also change, but what truly remains are the colors in people’s hearts and memories.