In the two decades following China’s reform and opening, the progression of Chinese contemporary art has presented great structure and richness. Within the threads of Eastern and Western culture, Chinese artists, through painful transformation, arduous exploration and bold experimentation, pushed Chinese contemporary art towards the next two decades of prosperity. During this historical period, the rise and fall of various styles and artistic concepts reflected the shifts in the spirit and culture of the times. As the twentieth century drew to a close, the question of “Easternness” moved from the realm of theory to artistic practice.

　　The tension of rustic art within modern culture is, in a certain sense, a negation and supplementation to civilization. Thus, folk art, primitive art and rustic art are highly significant to the formation of modern art. In that historic moment of civilizational transition and cultural refreshing, folk art, rustic art and primitive art often became the motifs sought out by artists. This is an accepted historical truth. For instance, Western primitivism served for a time as a concept in early Western modernism, with its significance lying, as Matisse once said, in the return to the beginnings of artistic language in a pursuit of purity, the creation of crude yet expressive forms.

　　Tian Shixin’s early rustic style was born from his unique living experience. The artist grew up in Beijing and received his college education there before being sent to the remote mountains of Guizhou Province, where he would reside for over two decades. In terms of civilization, the ancient capital of Beijing and the remote mountains of Guizhou are like polar opposites. Such straits can either stifle or catalyze one’s innate talents, with the outcome depending on one’s faith and determination. Tian Shixin has always possessed natural-born artistic talent, but it was his artistic creativity that played the decisive role, his so called spiritual power which allowed him to grow and develop artistically.

　　Tian Shixin’s contemporary sculptures pulse with a powerful spirit of life. The wellspring of this spirit is not the civilized metropolis but the wild, deserted hills of the countryside. Thus, in a certain sense, Tian Shixin’s art is the result of the clash between civilization and nature. Since mankind first entered into the history of civilization, these two elements have always coexisted within people’s personality and character. Unfortunately, the civilization often expands to become a frenzy, to the point that people forget they are, from head to toe, “natives” of the earth, forgetting that they emerged from nature, and have now become far removed from it. And as man emerged from the world of animals, he will never truly be able to escape its rule.

　　The “postmodernism” and rethinking of industrial civilization that emerged in the West in the late 20th century actually emerged as this conflict between civilization and nature reached a critical point. At this time, certain philosophers and thinkers, having already engaged in cultural criticism, turned to Eastern philosophy and culture in a search for remedies and inspiration. The author cannot adequately summarize the myriad problems which arose in Western modern civilization, and this task has already been widely discussed. The appeal of Eastern civilization to Western thinkers lies not in some prophetic ability of Eastern civilization, but in its constancy. On the other hand, without integration with Western civilization, Eastern civilization would be unable to enter into modern civilization.

　　This abbreviated discussion of the interplay between civilization and nature, as well as of Eastern civilization, is aimed at providing a useful historical background for the analysis of Tian Shixin’s art. With this background, we can better understand the spiritual and cultural value of his creations.

　　It must also be pointed out that the Eastern properties of Tian Shixin’s art are rooted in perceptual experience, rather than conceptual resources. In other words, Tian Shixin’s art raises issues about culture in relation to art, rather than questions about ethnic identity or artistic form.

　　Unlike most rustic artists, Tian Shixin went from the life of a student in a great cultural metropolis to a remote, marginal region. His cultural roots are in the Chinese contemporary mainstream, and this cultural background determined that his art would differ, on an internal level, from most rustic art, mainly because of the infusion of humanist elements. Generally speaking, rustic and primitive art focuses on spiritual expression (of the experience of existence, sex, love, reproduction, etc.), and the penetration of humanist elements gives these themes a metaphysical meaning that transcends reality. For instance, Tian Shixin’s depictions of the local inhabitants are often marked by a tragic feel, which derives from his benevolent and intelligent humanist spirit. The local inhabitants of these remote regions have no system of referencing modern civilization, and are thus content, but the artist does possess this reference system, and so in his art, he often finds a natural fusion between the bitterness of tragedy and the beauty of form. One is compelled to exclaim, “They do not know how they suffer; they do not know how beautiful they are.”

　　In his rustic art phase, Tian Shixin enjoyed a rich and complete array of artistic resources. The preponderance of perceptive resources, cultural resources, primitive resources and folk resources highly enrich his work. In Tian Shixin’s rustic artworks, we can gain a sense for his progression from sensory perception to spiritual perception, which would later prove to be important as his art developed from rustic to Eastern in nature.

II

　　In the essay Rodin and Bourdelle, France-based sculptor and philosopher Xiong Bingming writes, “Today’s China needs such coarseness, a strong and vigorous style. I personally believe that Bourdelle’s techniques are worth learning from. Our ancient people needs a new form of wildness. The majestic boldness of the east could be concentrated and refined through his approach to sculpting. Rodin’s sculpture, on the other hand, is too introspective. Too much introspection can serve as an impediment to audacity…”

　　The artistic spirit and formal principles of Tian Shixin’s sculpture are mostly drawn from the art of the Qin and Han dynasties, from the folk and primitive art of the indigenous peoples of Guizhou, and from Western sculpture after Rodin (including that of Bourdelle, who has been a profound influence on Tian’s work), and thus, internally, his art fits with the spiritual and aesthetic leanings of contemporary China. In the mid-80s, some in China boldly declared that Chinese painting had reached a dead end. Though this may be a simplistic view, it does capture some of the shortcomings at the core of the spirit and form of traditional literati painting. Literati painting is too introspective, too formulaic, lacking in perceptivity and innovation, and so when it entered into the realm of modern culture, it appeared to be lacking in spiritual and formal tension.

　　It was at this moment that Tian Shixin’s sculpture art entered the fray. The “wild spirit” of his subject matter drew its essence from rustic and natural perceptual resources, clear, simple and coarse. On the philosophical level, the Chinese people at this time were in a period of new perceptual awakening. To paraphrase Marx, we must turn human perceptions into human perceptions. This philosophical topic in Marxism points to the loss, distortion and alienation of human perceptions under the restriction of thoughts and the repression of culture, making them non-human perceptions. The liberation of Chinese thought in the late 70s and early 80s brought new concepts and culture, starting with the liberation of perception. In this sense, Tian Shixin’s sculpture art is wholly of its time: the internal spirit of the era catalyzed the artist’s creativity, while the artist’s creativity corresponded to the spirit of the era. We have seen such resonance between art and an era in the Western Renaissance, as well as in the art of the Han and Qin dynasties and in the May Fourth Movement in China. This makes a compelling case that art history is a spiritual history of mankind, and that the artist is the most spiritually sensitive member of the community of man.

　　Within contemporary sculpture art, the forms in Tian Shixin’s art are rich with the traits and ideals of Chinese aesthetics. Tian has said that he is quite fond of ancient Chinese sculpture: “Sometimes, if I do not compare them, I feel that Western things are quite good, but once I compare them, I find that the truly great things are Chinese. What is good about these Chinese things? I think that it is good in a formal way, but if you were to ask me what is good, formally, about this, I would not be able to say. Overall, however, it is an aptitude for induction. This may be closely connected to that particular character of the Chinese people.” In terms of formal principles, this viewpoint perhaps captures the essence of Chinese sculpture art. The formal difference between Chinese and Western art is the difference between induction and analysis. The Chinese emphasize induction, while the West emphasizes analysis, and this leads to the various core differences between Chinese and Western aesthetic principles. Chinese art emphasizes the spirit, and form follows that spirit. Western art emphasizes form, and spirit follows form. Western art seems to have never treated spirit as an important element of aesthetics, and here we see the advantage in Chinese aesthetics. Chinese art has also always placed great emphasis on the subjectivity of the artist, and in comparison, Western art since the Renaissance places comparatively more emphasis on the objective subject. Later on, however, with impressionism and modernism, Western art once again shifted towards the subjectivity of artistic expression, and here we finally see a confluence between Eastern and Western art.

　　The emphasis on the subjective status of the creator in aesthetics leads inevitably to induction. This is the height of aesthetics (the philosophy of art). Art on a high level is realized through the principles of induction, and here it must be pointed out that Tian Shixin’s art is very important. The ascension from Western analytical principles to Chinese induction principles, and eventual transcendence of both, is the key to the future for modern Chinese sculpture. It will bestow Chinese sculpture art with greater formal richness and tension, as well as a human touch. These are precisely the Eastern attributes found in the art of Tian Shixin.

　　At this point, the author must make note of the important and unique modeling discovery made by the great modern Western master Bourdelle, who has had such an influence on Tian Shixin. This discovery has many implications for our understanding of the aesthetics of modeling in Western sculpture art. “Some say that Chinese faces lack contours, and are not as beautiful as those of Westerners, but Bourdelle believed the opposite, that Western faces were too lumpy, making them susceptible to the elements and producing many shadows and generally not creating a neat form. His many portraits, from his early Apollo to the guards at his later monument to General Alvear, all seemed to incorporate Asian traits (from Xiong Bingming’s notes on Rodin).

　　Having read this passage on Bourdelle and looked back at the Chinese figures that Tian Shixin has created, we can gain a deeper understanding of both Bourdelle and Tian.

III

　　Tian Shixin’s early wood carvings laid the formal and spiritual foundations for his later art.

　　Tian Shixin says that the wood in Guizhou is full of knots, and this is the reason he is such a natural at woodcarving. Sculpture possesses an enchantment that attracts Tian to create and express. Though Tian studied both oil painting and sculpture in his eight years at the Beijing Art Academy, he has always had a special place in his heart for sculpture, and a strong affinity for the Western masters who followed Rodin such as Bourdelle, Maillol and Moore.

　　Tian Shixin’s sculptures before 1982 mainly focused on rustic and indigenous themes, and though these works contain strong decorative elements, we can still see in them his sensitivity and emphasis on form, as well as the inner qualities that would make him a great sculptor. Tian Shixin is a natural sculptor, with one of his qualities being a powerful grasp of shape and space. He studied oil painting for a time, and created quite a few paintings during his time in Guizhou, but it is clear that he lacked sensitivity and passion for two-dimensional planes and colors.

　　Though his early wood carvings are not quite mature, they are the starting point for his artistic principles. In these works, we can see his pursuit of creative forms that were highly expressive while also marked by purity, coarseness and simplicity.

　　In 1982, Tian Shixin’s rustic themes entered into a new phase which opened up a broader formal space marked by richer composition and a linguistic shift from narration to expression. Spiritually, his works began to emphasize synchronicity and transcendence, giving his works a timeless sense of poetry. Sculptor Sui Jianguo says it well: “His art is a ‘Chinese rustic’ epic poem inscribed in rock, clay and bronze.”

　　This academic topic of the “Chinese rustic” is a good summation of the artistic traits of Tian Shixin’s sculptures, and the foundation for the Eastern aesthetics in his art.

　　Tian Shixin’s series of historical-themed artworks reveals the maturity of his formal creativity and spiritual expression. These works mark the completion of his transition from “wildness” to “humanism,” and show us that “character” and “culture” have found harmonious unity in Tian’s art. This series also shows that the sculptor has fully stood up on the level of cultural character. On the spiritual level, these works embody the sculptor’s humanist and moral ideals, embodying the artist’s intellectualism within contemporary society. These works are also richer in form, telling us that in terms of formal language creation, the artist has gained a greater and freer space. The artist’s creative absorption of Chen Hongshou’s influence demonstrates that he has transcended the realm of sculpture to enter into the greater space of art in order to seek out creative resources.

　　Sculpture, an art form possessing both spatial form and temporal imagery, requires that artworks transcend, both in form and spirit, “individual beauty” to achieve “common beauty,” aesthetic traits of the art of the times. Eastern aesthetics, as an alternative to Western aesthetics, should also have certain common traits. So what are the aesthetic traits of Eastern modern sculpture? I believe these traits to be vastness, fusion, resonance, reserve, conceptual imagery and of course the marks of human nature.

　　In a discussion with famous art theoretician Shao Dazhen, Tian Shixin once said, “But I feel that I have yet to truly find the most appropriate expression and language for myself, that perfect fit. I feel that I haven’t found it yet, and in the end, there may still be some changes, but they will be changes within this greater framework you speak of. There will not be any drastic changes.” We should not treat these words as humble self-deprecation. This is a frank admission by an artist who is truly searching, and it shows us that Tian Shixin’s art is continuing to unfold and develop.

　　Perhaps Tian Shixin will never find what he feels to be “that perfect fit,” but we can rest assured that he will never stop looking.