Art creativity as a fruitful nourishment to my life Vincent Lee

Although I am a Hong Kong citizen, I find myself not mentally and conventionally

bounded by the busy and competitive mode of urban life. This attributes to my

growing background on Cheung Chau Island, the place of my origin, where it is

eternally a fishing village revealing the minimal essence of natural life. I enjoy having

a spiritual interaction with the ocean, plants, landscapes and biological lives. I enjoy a

harmonious relationship with mankind, as I get used to have friendly communications

with the islanders. I also enjoy swimming, cycling and eating organic foods, such as

seafood, as my meals. It is inevitable that, I have a tough strife for livelihood in the

urban side due to the abundant academic and employment opportunities there, but I

never abandon my insistence of reserving spacious time for spiritual relaxation once I

return my hometown.

I’ve been studying painting art for nearly twenty years. Whenever I fostered my

imaginative ideas, I unnoticeably preserved a sincere reflection of comfortable

visions, warm pigments, organic compositions, natural beauty and peculiar truth of

human. I am not driven to a blind pursuit of modern trend, but having a critical

evaluation on its pros and cons. I inherit the belief of making art pieces that audience

are always eager to recollect the pleasant flavour from, instead of temporarily

delivering a sense of visual stimulation. To me, the philosophy of Chinese aesthetics

is remarkably carved inside my heart as a reminder to pursue a proper life attitude,

especially in art creativity. In the early Qing period, Qian Qianyi (錢謙益 , 1582 –

1664)1, with the evidential quotation of Du Fu’s (杜甫 ) studies, proclaimed the

importance of consolidating artists’ foundation in academic cultivation before

developing their talents in calligraphy and painting. Fu Shan (傅山 , 1607 – 1684)2

reiterated Su Xi’s (蘇軾) emphasis on the cultivation of goodness in personality and

behaviour as a mean of pursuing an enhancement in artistic flavour. As these two

thoughts have been giving me a positive affection, I utilize every creative opportunity

to express my eagerness of maintaining a humble mind among mankind.

In my secondary schooling, Miss Winnie Choy3 and Miss Kitty Ho4 gave me a

comprehensive insight on the beneficial essences of Chinese aesthetics as a mean of

attaining a better spiritual development; even they put a greater emphasis on the

1 HO Pik-ki, The Social Atmosphere and Development of Clerical Script in Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasty [P.45 – 46]; Prof. Harold MOK Ka-leung, Xie Dao Yang Chen – Chinese Art History Essay Collection (The Chinese University of Hong Kong Publishing Company Limited & Department of Fine Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, December 2003, 1st Edition)2 (same as above)3 Panel Head of Visual Arts Department, Cheung Chau Government Secondary School4 Former Deputy Principal and Visual Arts Teacher, Rosaryhill School (Secondary Section)

training of Western drawing and painting. Miss Choy initiated me to write Chinese

calligraphies every year for the Annual Celebration of Chinese National Day. Miss Ho

taught me to explore the inter-relationship between water, ink, xuanzhi paper and

paint-brush by making pigment infiltrations. Through the use of Chinese-ink in

figurative and gesture practices, she made me understand that, an advanced artist,

with a Chinese philosophical background, tend to paint with intuitional inspirations. It

is similar to Zen Buddhists’ aesthetic ideal of “intelligence without apprenticeship”

(無師智)5, in which artists release their creative passions all of a sudden, like being

dominated by destiny, without pretentious arrangements. This mysterious technique

requires a possession of spiritual potentials as a way of having confidence to paint an

ideal world oneself. Yet, I adapted to paint the targeted matters with my heart’s

sincere understanding upon their real essences. As I furthered my university studies, I

was indoctrinated a sense of immortality from the non-secular aesthetic desires. I

eventually learnt to show much about the harmonious essences of Chinese

Confucianism and Taoism, such as honesty, modesty, courtesy, kindness,

thoughtfulness and submissiveness, no matter from Western and Chinese mediums.

Because of their devoting guidance, I fostered a mind of respecting the humanist

values of this universal world.

Thank Lord for giving me such a special nurturing background which allows me to

taste the nourishments of painting art in diversified approaches, between rural and

urban lives. I keep devoting my creativity to bringing people happiness, warmth and

auspiciousness. I will strive for my best to pursue a compromising mixture between

Chinese and Western aesthetics by inheriting my favour to natural life and childhood-

minded sincerity6 according to the Chinese philosophy.

5 TSUI Lai-sha, Chen Jiyu’s Poetic Paintings on Plum Flowers [P.14]; Prof. Harold MOK Ka-leung, Xie Dao Yang Chen – Chinese Art History Essay Collection (The Chinese University of Hong Kong Publishing Company Limited & Department of Fine Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, December 2003, 1st Edition)6 Li Zhi’s (李贄, 1527 - 1602) studies, “The Childhood Mind” (童心說), proclaimed that artists who bore a childhood mind of purity would lead to a successful reflection of sincere essences from their work, as it was according to a regular circulation of the Nature. It is also a basis for moral and righteous pursuit.LI Sau-wah, The Performance of Chinese Ink Usage in Late Ming Calligraphic Trend [P.28]; Prof. Harold MOK Ka-leung, Xie Dao Yang Chen – Chinese Art History Essay Collection (The Chinese University of Hong Kong Publishing Company Limited & Department of Fine Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, December 2003, 1st Edition)

藝術創作，是我生命裏一份恩澤 李冠良

雖然我是一位香港人，但我的心志並沒有受繁囂和充斥競爭的都市生活所捆綁，這基於我從小在長洲長大的緣故，因而對那兒漁村生活的純樸之風，抱有濃厚的情誼。我喜歡吸收海洋、植物、山地和動物的靈氣，我獨愛和睦的人倫關係，尤其是享受與島上居民那份友善的交流；我亦喜歡游泳、騎自行車和以有機的食物作爲常餐，如海鮮。縱使我必然要在市區爲生活賓士，因爲該處有衆多的學術和就業機會，但我亦不忘堅持預留空餘時間，回到家園後會有直觀內省的時刻。

我鑽研繪畫藝術已將近二十多年了，當我構思意念之際，我不自覺地流露著舒適的憧憬、溫情滿溢的著色、有機的構圖、自然美的和人類真摯一面的表現。我不會因著時代趨勢隨波逐流，反而會更批判性地審視當中的優點和缺點；我承傳著一套信念，就是要做些給予受衆有長遠回味價值的作品，而不是做些給予受衆短暫性視覺刺激的作品。對我而言，中國的審美哲學博翰精深，引領我在創作上追隨恰當的人生觀。清初的錢謙益（1582 – 1664）7以杜甫學說爲依據，主張鞏固學術涵養爲浸淫書畫藝術的有利條件，傅山（原名傅青主，1607 – 1684）8

重申蘇軾「尚品德」而有利於藝術韻味昇華的主張。皆因這兩套學說給我正面的熏陶，我珍惜每個創作的時刻，表達我渴望在人倫中保存謙遜心境的意願。

在我的中學時代，蔡詠妍老師9和何潔儀老師10培養我綜合性的洞悉力，即使他們著重訓練我西洋素描和繪畫的技巧，仍讓我明暸中國美學思維的讓生之道，透過貫徹始終而達致更完滿的靈性發展。蔡老師鼓勵我在每年國慶活動前夕揮毫書法，何老師透過借著以中國媒界做人體及姿態素描的練習，讓我們探索墨色的渲染，從而對紙、筆、水、墨之間那種合一性的緊扣關係有透徹的體會。兩位恩師皆讓我明白到，一位更高水準而又有中國哲學根基的畫家，會傾向跟從他們那份「偶仿」的心境去揮毫和皴察，這與禪學「無師智」11的理念是相近的，畫家剎那間舒展他們臆中屈澀著的情懷，憑藉感覺而沒有刻意安排，好象隨緣一樣。一個人有這種功力需要先有內在的氣韻，其才會有信心去展現心目中的大同世界。而我畫畫時也慣常去打開心眼，力嘗對事物的本質抱有真切的見到。進入大學後我深深被那份「無求」、「歸真」的藝術精神所熏陶，我漸漸地明白到在中西繪畫媒介均展現儒道兩學的和諧精髓，如忠、遜、禮、仁、惻隱和順服的思想；因著他們的悉心教導，我始對普世的人文價值予以尊重。

7 何碧琪，《明末清初文化社會氛圍與隸書發展》[頁 45-46]；莫家良編，《學道揚塵．中國藝術史論文集》（中文大學出版社、香港中文大學藝術系，2003年 12月初版）8 （同上）9 長洲官立中學，視覺藝術科主任10 玫瑰崗學校（中學部），前任副校長及視覺藝術科老師11 徐麗莎，《陳繼儒的梅花詩畫》[頁 14]；莫家良編，《學道揚塵．中國藝術史論文集》（中文大學出版社、香港中文大學藝術系，2003年 12月初版）

這種特殊的成長環境，讓我在都市和鄉郊生活之間多角度去細味繪畫藝術的妙蘊，我會繼續以藝術帶給人們幸福、溫情和瑞祥，在中西合璧的探索中，把崇尚自然生活，以及童心真誠觀12的中國哲學精神發揚光大。

12 李贄（1527 – 1602）的「童心說」倡導一切文藝，當導向自然的本性，童心即真心，亦即真性情，而這一切皆「因乎本然」，並以此做爲是非善惡的道德基礎。李秀華，《晚明書風中的用墨表現》[頁 28]；莫家良編，《學道揚塵．中國藝術史論文集》（中文大學出版社、香港中文大學藝術系，2003年 12月初版）