"Yuan Shu" (元漱) on one hand shares the same pronunciation as the artist YUAN Hui-Li's pseudonym "YUAN Shu", and on the other hand refers to the starting point of the creator's ink and wash paintings, where she reinterprets contemporary ink painting through the perspective and consciousness of the female body.
The exhibition " Essence Ablution: Inks, Brushes and Embodiment of YUAN Hui-Li’s Shanshui Painting " lays out the evolution of the artist's creations over 30 years through the lens of the female body/feminine writing, demonstrating how women use their bodies and emotional journeys to portray new styles in contemporary ink painting.
 
The exhibition works begin with the " Discrete Islands ", where the artist first explored the relationship between brush, ink, and materials, establishing her "Blocky Shanshui " style. This showcases the artist's artistic insights and experiences at different periods.
Starting from the " Discrete Islands ", the artist's "Blocky Shanshui " structure is further reconstructed with diverse meanings in the " THEY Shanshui ". After creating her own type of landscape textures using software, the artist produced replicas of ancient paintings or original images in the " PS. THEY ", reflecting the consciousness and observations of the contemporary era.
Continuing the exploration of " THEY Shanshui ", artist in "Intrinsic Potential Landscape" further attempts to create a contemporary visual effect within the brush and ink.
Cross beyond the visual perception, the artist extends her contemplation and expression of "ink" through bodily perception. Works such as "Ice Ink" , where the cold ink ice accompanied by the resonating sound of singing bowls spreads on Xuan paper into a black-and-white video piece, and " Fiery Ink " , which transforms wet ink in response to climate change into burnt and smoky ash, showcase YUAN Hui-Li's practice of sensorial body aesthetics.
From the practice of sensorial body aesthetics, looking back at the work " Manual of Yuan’s Texturizing Strokes " , which extended from " THEY Shanshui " ,allows audience to understand how feminine writing transforms traditional texture methods that reference external nature into abstract symbols referring to female inner emotions.
Reflecting on YUAN Hui-Li's 30 years of artistic practice from the perspective of bodily perception, one can see how the artist uses feminine writing to transform traditional texture methods that reference external nature into abstract symbols that refer to female inner emotions.

 

 About the Artist 
 
Yuan Hui-Li, also known as Yuan Shu, aspired to become an artist at the age of 14 and graduated from the first class of the Fine Arts Department of the National Institute of the Arts (now Taipei National University of the Arts). She began her exploration into new ink painting. The artist regards traditional ink painting as nourishment, while also viewing it as an object for reflection and challenge. Throughout 30 years of creative exploration, Yuan Hui-Li has consistently maintained a deep understanding and reflection on traditional ink painting. Since the " Discrete Islands " (孤山水) series in 1992, she has established a unique artistic and aesthetic vision with a block landscape painting structure, reconstructing the overall framework of ink painting creation based on the perception of the female body.
 
In the " THEY Shanshui " (類山水) series, which started in 2007, the artist further reconstructs the structure of landscape painting with diverse semantic texture methods, transforming landscape painting from a representation of nature into a symbolic field of subjective consciousness. This transformation continued in the "PS THEY" series, which began around 2014, into new media of imagery. After 2014, Yuan Hui-Li's reconstruction of the ink painting framework progressed into the integration and innovation of imagery and texture methods. In 2015, she began " Manual of Yuan’s Texturizing Strokes " (袁氏皴譜), a project based on the expression of female emotions, which took four years to complete in 2019.
 
Starting in 2015, the artist expanded her contemplation and expression of "ink" beyond pure visual perception to include bodily perception. Responding to climate change, she transformed the dripping wet "ink wash" into scorching, smoky ash in "Fiery Ink" (火墨) in 2015. During the pandemic, her response to the sound of singing bowls led to the creation of "Ice Ink" (冰墨) in 2021, where the dynamic diffusion of cold ink on Xuan paper was transformed into the resonating sound of singing bowls and black-and-white video. In the post-pandemic "Intrinsic Potential Landscape" (勢山水) of 2020, imagery and emotional texture methods were integrated, creating a contemporary visual effect with chaotic brush and ink.
 
Yuan Hui-Li (Yuan Shu), through the emotional surges of her body, reimagines classical Sahnshui Painting, charting a journey of reshaping and reinterpreting traditional ink art in a new form and perspective, boldly facing the vast and masculine tradition.
 

---

PS. THEY
 
YUAN Hui-Li started creating "THEY Shanshui" in 2007, and named it “Ambiguous World ” at first. She realized Shanshui painting has never been merely about scenery; it has always corresponded to a certain spiritual and political consciousness. The "THEY Shanshui" subverts the uniform texture structure of traditional Shanshui painting with a diverse semantic texture structure, thereby revealing the artist's political consciousness of diversity replacing unity.
 
From paintings to extended videos in THEY Shanshui, she uses digital image editing techniques to create “PS. THEY”, the works overlay classical paintings with symbols of political subjectivity with diverse landscape textures. The artist's reconstruction is not only about the principles of Shanshui painting but also about self-identity and cultural recognition.



Discrete Islands
Intrinsic Potential Landscape

The " Discrete Islands "  makes YUAN Hui-Li's bold departure from tradition and exploration beyond history. By delving into
 the relationship between brush, ink, and materials, the artist attempts to depict the visually misty and humid environment of Jinshan, North Taiwan, with its mountains and sea, thereby establishing YUAN’s unique "Blocky Landscape" compositional style.
 
The" Intrinsic Potential Landscape " attempts to express the effect of noisy images with chaotic brush and ink. On one hand, it conveys the anxiety and isolation of the pandemic through brushwork, and on the other hand, it outlines the sense of disorder in an era of information overflowing through noisy images.
 
Through the experimentation with various mediums and techniques, the artist demonstrates personal existence beyond traditional artistic rule, aligning with Shi Tao's (石濤) concepts of "non-brush," "non-ink," and "non-painting."



Ice Ink
 
Artist's attempt to express the dynamic diffusion of "ink" on Xuan paper into the diffusion of sound. By combining black-and-white video with the sound of singing bowls, the "ink" extends its visual imagination into an auditory one, transforming the material "ink" into waves of energy.



Fiery Ink
 
In the "Fiery Ink (Fire Ink)", YUAN Hui-Li addresses the contemporary ecological crises of raging wildfires and dense haze prevalent in natural landscapes. The misty dampness that traditionally characterizes ink painting, drawn from the wilderness, forests, and water's edge, transitions into the lingering ashes of a wildfire. The works select classical pieces depicting seasonal climates as subjects for imitation, metaphorically referencing the drastic changes in the natural environment throughout history.
 
Through her " Fiery Ink" , which juxtaposes fire with water, the artist conveys not only her bodily sensations in response to natural disasters like forest fires and haze but also her reflective phenomenological stance toward contemporary landscapes.