澄怀味象 超越漆性

－－周榕清漆画解读

金晖

    如混沌初开、万象萌生，人物、动物在一片有与无之间徘徊，纯真的眼眸在凝视，使观者内心产生一缕缕遐想，不由反思着欢乐与悲伤、激情与忧郁的意义。周榕清的作品显示了其严谨的油画教育背景，《世纪宝宝》、《骑木马》等系列作品首先给人以观念的震撼，不经意间将希望与绝望等复杂的视觉情绪融于方寸天地之间。工艺方面，运用了镶嵌、贴箔、变涂等技法，观其作品给人以工艺的“大气”感，技法融于笔意而不滞留，从某种角度上我们可以称之为“单纯”，这种“单纯”却是目前漆画所迷失的。

    中国现代漆画萌芽于上世纪三、四十年代的中国现代漆艺探索，从历史脉络分析，中国现代漆画走的是“由漆入画”之路，由现代漆艺探索中萌生。李芝卿先生所建立一套漆艺材料语言并非针对漆画，只不过为中国现代漆画所借用，并不完全适合现代绘画；沈福文先生建立了现代漆艺的平面表现形式，如《飞天》等作品只是拓展了中国现代漆艺的平面表现范畴，使中国漆艺由漆器、漆塑单一的立体形式而增加为立体和平面两大类型。因此，中国现代漆画从技法和材料语言方面来说有深厚的积淀，但是在绘画创作观念上的探索上相对是滞后的，直至上世纪五十年代才加以探索，几十年来中国现代漆画的实践和探索的“瓶颈”也在于此。

漆画，“漆”乎？“画”乎？如何在漆艺材料语言的基础上建立漆画的本体语言，从工艺美学迈向现代艺术，这是一个世纪性的困惑。周榕清以其油画教育背景而“由画入漆”，用自己的作品对这一思考进行着诠释。绘画的意义是观念的构建与传达，是人类情感的符号，是一种对功利、世俗、工具理性的超越，这种超越也是艺术的演变规律与进化密码。中国绘画在历史上有两次转型，由人物向风景的转型、重彩向水墨的转型，两次转型正是体现了艺术的演变与进化规律。漆画的发展最终也将符合艺术的普遍规律，由“技“入“道”，融“技法”于“笔意”，周榕清的作品体现了一种对漆性的超越，无疑对中国现代漆画的探索具有一定的启示性。

此外，每一画种都具有自身的观念语言与形式体系，漆画由于历史积淀的薄弱，往往流露出其他画种的翻译痕迹，探索与建立漆画的观念语言与形式体系则是当前漆画更高的境界追求。从周榕清的作品中我们也可以发现他在这一方面所做的努力，《我们在一起》、《土楼、人》系列作品清晰地反映了他在构建漆画自身造型、色彩、图式等方面的思考与迷茫，这也是中国现代漆画思考与迷茫。

愿与榕清兄共勉。
上海大学美术学院漆艺工作室金晖
2008-6-20

Appreciating Images with Pure Mind Surpassing the Property of Lacquer

Interpreting Zhou Rongqing’s lacquer painting

At the sight of a world at its beginning, living creatures hesitating between things and nothingness, and innocence eyes fixed upon the spectators, those in front of the paintings can’t help reflecting on the revelation about happiness and sadness, passion and apathy. Zhou Rongqing’s paintings display his solid education background in oil painting. His works, such as Centenary babies, Riding a Wooden Horse and so on, shock people with its concept, integrating such complicated emotions as hope and despair into a limited space. Besides, as far as technology is concerned, by using inlaying, foiling, and various brushing, his works strike people as grand and smooth, which to some extent, can be called “simplicity”, something missing in the present lacquer works.

Chinese modern lacquer painting came into being during the exploration into Chinese modern lacquer art in 1930s and 1940s. Historically speaking, it made its progress by way from material to painting. The material language established by Mr. Li Zhiqing, not adequately suitable for modern painting, was not intended for, but instead, employed by lacquer painting; Mr. Shen Fuwen created modern technique concerning how lacquer could be used on plane surface. His works extended the means of expression of Chinese lacquer art from single solid shape, such as lacquer ware or lacquer sculpture, up to both solid and plane. As a result, despite the rich history in its techniques and material, not until 1950, Chinese lacquer painting made relatively little progress in its efforts to upgrade its painting concept, which is exactly the choke point in Chinese modern lacquer painting practice for the last few decades.

Is Lacquer painting more of material or painting? How to establish an ontological language about lacquer painting based on the material so as to step from technological aesthetics to modern art has been a puzzle for a century. Zhou Rongqing approached the problem with his own works by way from painting to material with the help of his training in oil painting. Painting, as a symbol of human emotions, is to construct and express one’s ideology, which goes beyond the material gain, secularity and reason about tools, revealing the laws of the evolution of art. Chinese art underwent two major turns, namely, the turn from portrait to landscape, and from color painting to ink wash drawing, which serve good example of the evolution of art. The development of lacquer painting complies with the common law of art, going from technique to Tao, and integrating technique to the expressing of theme. By surpassing the property of lacquer, Zhou Rongqing’s practice will contribute to the development of Chinese modern lacquer painting.

In addition, each type of painting has its own concept language and form system. Due to its relatively short history, lacquer painting it cannot choose but emulate other type of painting. From Zhou Rongqing’s works we can see his effort to explore a new system for lacquer painting, which is no doubt the goal for all the lacquer painters. Works like We are together, Earth Buildingpeople, clearly show his consideration and confusion in how to constitute shape, color and form belonging to the lacquer painting itself.

Director of lacquer studio, fine art school, Shanghai university.

Jin Hui