洁尘

　　每个人与世间的对应和关联，总有一个特别的对象。在罗敏，就是植物。

　　罗敏的作品总是不会离开植物。植物是她的主题，也是她的背景。人在植物之间，或隐或显。

　　外表柔弱纤细的罗敏内里坚韧且强硬。这一点，作为她的朋友，我相当感佩。所以，这些年她笔下的植物，都多少呈现了一种粗粝的意味，在我看来也一点不奇怪。她的内在必然会对沧桑之美有特别的感悟和亲近，自然也有一番她自己的解读方式。

　　女性对植物有一种特别的感知途径，相当的本能化，花的娇嫩与女性内心有一种质地上的联结。但在罗敏的笔下，花之娇嫩与艳丽的特质全然不见，她直接被枯萎所打动，并着力呈现枯萎的意韵。她的作品都是这种气息，我印象特别深的是《金诗》那一组关于玫瑰的描述，笔触凌厉，意味遒劲，与“金诗”这个标题的华美构成了特别的冲突和张力。从这一点来看，有的时候，文字（标题）的进入和标注也非常重要，与画面或抗争或共谋，在某个深度达成冲击力。

　　读罗敏的“枯”，让我联想到日本著名哲学家九鬼周造所提出的“粹”。在我看来，“粹”是一种东方的高超的美学理念。

　　什么是“粹”呢？九鬼周造在提出这个概念后，归纳其表征时说，第一，媚态（美艳），第二，傲骨（清高），第三，达观（洒脱）。凡事凡物到达这三个境界，就是“粹”。

　　特别有意思的是，“粹”之“美艳”，并非日常生活对这个词汇的理解。我认为，在绘画中，抵达媚态的方式往往要回避对媚态的直接描述，在这种回避和迂回之中，将媚态悬置之后，傲骨和达观一并到达。说到绘画的色彩，九鬼认为“粹”的色彩无外乎灰（淡灰、银灰、蓝灰、红灰等等）、褐（茶色）和蓝绿这三种色系，“能表现‘粹’的色彩往往是一种伴有华丽体验的消极的余韵，”“它在肯定色彩的同时又隐含着使其暗淡的否定”。如果就这一点来说，《金诗》这组作品的效果（画面与标题）与“粹”的理念是相当贴切的。

　　如果我们将美学理念中的“粹”延伸来说的话，它让人觉得更为直观的滋味是“涩”。九鬼曾经就说，“粹”不会是甜的，也不会是苦的，不会酸，也不会辣；“粹”是涩的。他还进一步解释说，“涩味在自然界中经常用来表示尚未成熟的味道，而在精神界中则经常表示非常成熟的趣味。”

　　在结局中反推，遐想过程，直面衰败，哀悼艳丽，进而有一种凌厉的勇气之美。一个女性艺术家进入了生命的一个新的阶段并拥有一种成熟的趣味和逐渐完善的个性的表达。我在罗敏的这些植物主题油画作品中看到了这一点。

　　2018/3/14

　　The Iki of Astringency

　　——Thoughts on the Paintings of Luo Min

　　Jie Chen

　　Everyone has his or her own special correspondence in this world. For Luo Min, it is "plant".

　　Luo Min's paintings never depart too far from plants. Plants are her theme, and they are also her background. Figures are placed in-between plants, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden behind.

　　Behind her gentle and delicate appearance, Luo Min has a strong and firm inner core. As a friend, I truly admire this character of hers. Because of this, it never felt strange to me that for all these years, the plants under her brush displayed a degree of roughness. Her inner core inevitably finds revelation and resonance in the beauty of vicissitude, for which she naturally developed her own way of interpretation.

　　Women have a unique sensitivity for plants. Highly instinctive by nature, there is a textural correlation between the tenderness of flowers and the heart of a woman. And yet under Luo Min's brushstrokes, the tenderness and flamboyancy of flowers have completely dissolved. Instead, she is touched by withering, and strives to capture the enigma of it. All of her works thrive on this aura. What left me a particularly deep impression is the group of works depicting roses titled the Golden Poem, which are executed with such austere brushstrokes. The fortitude of the images constructs a distinctive conflict and tension with the floweriness of the title. From this, we understand that sometimes the addition of introduction and textual annotation (title) to a painting is also essential. The words contrive and conspire with the images, until they reach an impact at a certain depth.

　　Reading Luo Min's "Withering" reminds me of the notion of "Iki" proposed by the famous Japanese philosopher Shuzo Kuki. In my understanding, "Iki" is a refined aesthetic concept of the East.

　　But what is "Iki", after all  When Shuzo Kuki first coined the term, he defined it with three characteristics: first, amorousness (beauty); second, valor (loftiness); and third, resignation (untrammeledness). When things attain these three levels, they are "Iki".

　　What is particularly interesting is that the term "amorousness" in "Iki" should not be understood in its daily, literal meaning. I think that in painting, attaining the level of "amorousness" often requires an avoidance of straightforward depiction of visual flamboyance. Only in the avoidance, detouring, and the suspension of "amorousness" can valor and resignation reach a synergy. In his discussion of color in painting, Kuki notes that the color of "Iki" does not go beyond the spectrum of the three colors of grey (light grey, silver grey, bluish grey, reddish grey, etc.), brown (tea color), and bluish green: "the color capable of expressing the sense of 'Iki' are usually reminiscent of both visual magnificence and passiveness" and that "it [the color] affirms color and yet inherently denies it into obscurity." In this sense, the effect of the Golden Poem (image and title) is highly akin to the ideal of "Iki".

　　If we expand on the aesthetic ideal of "Iki", I think the most direct affect of it would be "astringency". Kuki once noted that "Iki" would not be sweet nor bitter, sour, or spicy: "Iki" is astringent. He further elaborates that "the taste of astringency in nature often describes the taste of what is immature, but in the realm of the mind, it connotes an interest or a taste of refined maturity."

　　Tracing back from the finale, fantasizing the process, facing decay and mourning flamboyance, only then there rises a fortitudinous and courageous beauty. A female artist enters a new phase in her life with a mature taste and an ever-perfecting expression of individuality. This is what I see in Luo Min's oil paintings of plants.

　　2018/3/14

　　El Iki de Astringencia--Consideraciones sobre las pinturas

　　de Luo Min

　　Jie Chen

　　Cada persona tiene un objeto especial que asocia con el mundo que le rodea. Para Luo Min, es la vegetación.

　　Las pinturas de Luo Min nunca se alejan demasiado de la vida vegetal que, además de ser su temática habitual, constituyen el fondo de sus cuadros. Las figuras están pintadas entre la vegetación, a veces visibles, a veces escondidas.

　　Detrás de su apariencia delicada y apacible, Luo Min tiene un núcleo interior firme. Como amiga, admiro realmente esta faceta. Y por eso, nunca me ha parecido extraño que, durante todos estos años de creación, la vegetación mostrara cierta dureza, expresada por medio de ásperas pinceladas. Su núcleo interior se relaciona inevitablemente con la belleza de la vicisitud, que interpreta de una forma muy propia y personal, espontánea.

　　Las mujeres tienen una sensibilidad peculiar, instintiva, por la vida vegetal y las plantas. Existe una correlación estructural entre la ternura de las flores y el corazón de una mujer. Sin embargo, bajo las pinceladas de Luo Min, la ternura y el resplandor de las flores se han desvanecido por completo. Por el contrario, Luo se conmueve por lo marchito, y se centra por capturar el enigma que envuelve este proceso. Este aura está presente en todas las obras de Luo. Lo que me deja una impresión particularmente profunda, es la serie de obras que representan rosas, titulada El Poema Dorado. Las austeras pinceladas crean imágenes de gran fortaleza, cuya tensión contrasta con la simplicidad del título. Por esta razón, entendemos que, a veces, es importante la adición del título y de un breve comentario a una pintura. Las palabras planean o conspiran con las imágenes, hasta que alcanzan un pacto a cierta profundidad.

　　La lectura de "marchitamiento" de Luo Min me recuerda la noción de "Iki" propuesta por el famoso filósofo japonés Shuzo Kuki. Para mí, "Iki" es un concepto estético oriental refinado.

　　Pero, qué es "Iki" en el fondo Cuando Shuzo Kuki acuó el término por primera vez, lo definió con tres características. La primera, el glamour (belleza); la segunda, la arrogancia (valor); y, finalmente, la tercera, resignación (desenvoltura).

　　Lo que es particularmente interesante es que el término "Belleza" en "Iki" no debe entenderse de forma literal. Creo que en la pintura, alcanzar el nivel de "glamour" requiere a menudo evitar la descripción directa del resplandor visual. Solo al evitar el "refinamiento", el valor y la desenvoltura pueden llegar a crear una sinergia. En su discusión sobre el color en la pintura, Kuki observa que el color de "Iki" no va más allá del espectro de los tres colores. Los tres colores son el gris (gris claro, gris plateado, gris azulado, gris rojizo, etc.), el marrón (color del té), y el verde azulado. Este último se considera como "el color capaz de expresar el sentido de 'Iki', suele recordar tanto a la magnificencia visual, como a la pasividad" y que "afirma la coloración y sin embargo lo niega inherentemente a la oscuridad". En este sentido, el efecto de El Poema Dorado (imagen y título) es muy similar al ideal de "Iki".

　　Si extendemos el ideal estético de "Iki", creo que el efecto más directo de esto sería "astringencia". Una vez, Kuki afirmó que "Iki" no sería dulce, ni amargo, ni agrio, ni picante: "Iki" es astringente. Además, explica que "el sabor de la astringencia en la naturaleza describe el sabor de lo que está inmaduro, pero en el ámbito de la mente, se refiere a un interés o un gusto de madurez refinada".

　　Rastrear desde el fondo, fantasear con el proceso, enfrentar la decadencia y conmoverse por el brillo. Sólo entonces surge una belleza rotunda y llena de valor. Una artista femenina entra en una nueva etapa de su vida, con un gusto maduro, y cada vez una mejor expresión de su individualidad. Esto es lo que veo en las pinturas al óleo de la vida vegetal de Luo Min.

　　2018/3/14

　　16

　　17The Iki of Astringency -Thoughts on the Paintings of Luo Min

　　Jie Chen

　　Everyone has his or her own special correspondence in this world. For Luo Min, it is "plant".

　　Luo Min's paintings never depart too far from plants. Plants are her theme, and they are also her background. Figures are placed in-between plants, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden behind.

　　Behind her gentle and delicate appearance, Luo Min has a strong and firm inner core. As a friend, I truly admire this character of hers. Because of this, it never felt strange to me that for all these years, the plants under her brush displayed a degree of roughness. Her inner core inevitably finds revelation and resonance in the beauty of vicissitude, for which she naturally developed her own way of interpretation.

　　Women have a unique sensitivity for plants. Highly instinctive by nature, there is a textural correlation between the tenderness of flowers and the heart of a woman. And yet under Luo Min's brushstrokes, the tenderness and flamboyancy of flowers have completely dissolved. Instead, she is touched by withering, and strives to capture the enigma of it. All of her works thrive on this aura. What left me a particularly deep impression is the group of works depicting roses titled the Golden Poem, which are executed with such austere brushstrokes. The fortitude of the images constructs a distinctive conflict and tension with the floweriness of the title. From this, we understand that sometimes the addition of introduction and textual annotation (title) to a painting is also essential. The words contrive and conspire with the images, until they reach an impact at a certain depth.

　　Reading Luo Min's "Withering" reminds me of the notion of "Iki" proposed by the famous Japanese philosopher Shuzo Kuki. In my understanding, "Iki" is a refined aesthetic concept of the East.

　　But what is "Iki", after all When Shuzo Kuki first coined the term, he defined it with three characteristics: first, amorousness (beauty); second, valor (loftiness); and third, resignation (untrammeledness). When things attain these three levels, they are "Iki".

　　What is particularly interesting is that the term "amorousness" in "Iki" should not be understood in its daily, literal meaning. I think that in painting, attaining the level of "amorousness" often requires an avoidance of straightforward depiction of visual

　　flamboyance. Only in the avoidance, detouring, and the suspension of "amorousness" can valor and resignation reach a synergy. In his discussion of color in painting, Kuki notes that the color of "Iki" does not go beyond the spectrum of the three colors of grey (light grey, silver grey, bluish grey, reddish grey, etc.), brown (tea color), and bluish green: "the color capable of expressing the sense of 'Iki' are usually reminiscent of both visual magnificence and passiveness" and that "it [the color] affirms color and yet inherently denies it into obscurity." In this sense, the effect of the Golden Poem (image and title) is highly akin to the ideal of "Iki".

　　If we expand on the aesthetic ideal of "Iki", I think the most direct affect of it would be "astringency". Kuki once noted that "Iki" would not be sweet nor bitter, sour, or spicy: "Iki" is astringent. He further elaborates that "the taste of astringency in nature often describes the taste of what is immature, but in the realm of the mind, it connotes an interest or a taste of refined maturity."

　　Tracing back from the finale, fantasizing the process, facing decay and mourning flamboyance, only then there rises a fortitudinous and courageous beauty. A female artist enters a new phase in her life with a mature taste and an ever-perfecting expression of individuality. This is what I see in Luo Min's oil paintings of plants.

　　2018/3/14