Hu Zhiying

Adam Don­ald

Illus­trat­ing what he calls the “cul­tural con­trast,” Hu Zhiy­ing brings together tra­di­tional Chi­nese art with the eclec­tic styles of the West. He com­bines tra­di­tional Chi­nese sym­bol­ism and land­scape with the ele­ments of the var­i­ous styles of West­ern art all com­ing together to cre­ate some­thing more than art¬—something equal to the real world. Using Chi­nese var­nish, sil­ver, and gold pow­der with tra­di­tional ink oils and acrylics, Zhiy­ing is able to cre­ate a unique style that pierces into the soul. In his paint­ings Astron­omy I and Astron­omy III Hu Zhiy­ing is able to cre­ate land­scapes that draw in your eyes, los­ing you in the col­ors and depth of the paint­ings. On top of tra­di­tional land­scape back­grounds swirls of color in red and blue pop out, flow, drip and force your eyes to move around, while bright white-like light­ning strikes in the fore­ground cre­at­ing pieces, as Zhiy­ing says, “imply a dark, mys­te­ri­ous world lurk­ing beneath the daz­zling surface.”

In his Bud­dhist Scrip­tures I Zhiy­ing, using acrylic, ink and char­coal on silk, cre­ates a depth that is omi­nous, fore­bod­ing, and beau­ti­ful. Rem­i­nis­cent of his Astrol­ogy I and III with the climb­ing “vines” and land­scape style, Bud­dhist Scrip­tures I looks like the mys­te­ri­ous under­side of what we see every­day. In this paint­ing Zhiy­ing shows us his cul­tural contrast¬—the bright world with the mys­te­ri­ous other side that can stand along side life and art equally.

www.flickr.com/photos/huzhiying/
www.artquid.com/hu.zhiying

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