田老师是一位雕塑天才，他和他同龄的艺术家在当时的环境之下，他一开始做自己作品具备这么鲜明的个人语言，很难想象在贵州25年生活里面在那样一个时代资讯非常的匮乏，他又在这样一个偏僻的地方，当他开始找到材料、工具做自己作品的时候，能做那样的作品，我觉得是不可思议的，所以我觉得他是一个天才。当时他同代人的作品差距非常之大，可以说他也是从他自己整个对生物一个体会里面的来的，非常独特的一种艺术语言。

　　我记得最早八十年代的时候，可能能够有自己谈得上个人创作的雕塑艺术家，我所知道的刘汉章先生，他曾经在中国美术馆做展览，还有就是田世信老师当时也在美术馆做个展，那时候我还小还在上附中，非常清楚的记得我当时第一次在美术馆看田老师的作品，就给我的震撼！

　　他的东西一方面对应了当时八十年代有点像是文学里的山河文学包括就是对曾经**时期的生活整个的一种归属，而且他的雕塑语言、艺术语言已有融合现代主义创作的一种语言叫风格，当然首先他是独特的，他的整个创作经历和过程，以我们现在这样一个时代和我们所经历的，其实是不可想象的！

　　我觉得田老师他在中国当代艺术史上是被低估的，从中国当代艺术短短三十年的历史，太多环节其实被我们忽视了，我觉得像田世信老师这样的艺术家，如果我们要写就一个中国当代艺术史的话，我想应该从田世信老师这样的艺术家开始写起，他几乎是一个非常非常少有的承上启下的这样一个人。

　　田世信老师这个人除了成就，对我们来说他有独特的人格魅力，记得当时他在昌平的时候，那时候我们也搬到他隔壁的一个村，希望离田老师更近一点，那时候田老师就是我们非常敬仰的一位创作者。他的生活形态，他的创作形态都是我们一种向往的生活。那时候把我们当朋友一起聊天一起喝酒，  田世信老师是一个非常有人情味的人，在我们起步的时候，在艺术上很多指导，还有非常多的帮助有这样一个前辈感觉就像一个标杆一样，很多人就觉得田世信老师很大的特质是勤奋，我觉得不管是勤奋、用功、刻苦这些来形容一个痴迷工作的人都不是很恰当，我相信这样的工作对于一个充满才华的人来说他不是在受苦，他充满了满足感而且自我价值的实现感，我非常羡慕而且佩服田老师。他现在这个年纪比我大十几岁，但是他依然这么大的激情和热情投入工作。

　　记得上次在天津大剧院看田老师的个展，我看到他做的几个古代人的肖像包括他做的***的，**的肖像，我觉得做的太棒了！因为那种松弛的语言而且每个小细节的敏感都不是一般人做得出来，一个好的艺术家他一定是一个能够保持足够的专注力和足够的敏锐度，他在我心里真的是一个特别的艺术家，一个理想中的艺术家，用今天的话来讲：“田世信老师是我的偶像！”

　　Professor Tian is a genius in sculpture. He and artists his age, in their surroundings at that time… When he began making art, it had this distinctive personal language, and it is hard to imagine living in a remote place in Guizhou for 25 years at a time when information was so scarce. He began looking for source material and tools to make his work, and I was amazed that he made this kind of art. I think that he's a genius. His works were very different from those made by the rest of his generation, and one might say that this unique artistic language came from his entire experience of the living world.

　　I remember that, of the sculptors who made personal work in the 1980s, I knew Liu Hanzhang, who had had an exhibition at the National Art Museum of China, and there was Tian Shixin, who had also done a solo show at the museum. At the time, I was still young and attending the Affiliated High School. I very clearly remember the first time I saw Professor Tian's work at the museum and the shock that it gave me!

　　His work was a bit like the "mountains and rivers literature" of the 1980s, which fell under the larger category of life during the Cultural Revolution. Also, his sculptural language and artistic language already incorporated modernism. Of course, he was unique, and his entire creative experience and process is unimaginable for those of us living in the present era with our current range of experiences.

　　I think that Professor Tian has been underestimated in the history of Chinese contemporary art. In the brief thirty-year history of Chinese contemporary art, we have overlooked too many moments, and I think that, if we want to write the history of Chinese contemporary art, we should begin with artists like Professor Tian. He is one of those very rare people who can connect past and present.

　　Apart from his achievements, Tian Shixin had a distinctive personal charm for us. I remember when he was in Changping, and we had just moved in one village over. We wanted to be closer to Professor Tian, because he was the artist we most respected. We wanted to live and work the way he lived and worked. At the time, he chatted and drank with us as friends. Tian Shixin is a very warm person. When we had just started, he gave us a lot of artistic guidance and help; it was good to have an elder like this, who felt like a role model. A lot of people know Professor Tian best for his diligence, but I think that, whether you use diligent, hardworking, assiduous, or some other word to describe a person obsessed with work, these words aren't entirely appropriate. I believe that work isn't a hardship for someone with his talent. He is content and has a sense of his own value. I very much envy and respect Professor Tian. He is more than a decade older than me, but he is still putting so much passion and energy into his work.

　　I remember when I saw Professor Tian's solo show at the Tianjin Grand Theater. I saw several of his portraits of historical figures, including portraits of Chairman Mao and Lin Biao. I thought they were great! The average person can't achieve this relaxed language and sensitivity to every small detail; a good artist is someone who can maintain sufficient attention and sensitivity. In my mind, he is a special artist, an ideal artist. As we say today, "Tian Shixin is my idol!"

作者：向京