茶余饭后，我们常常会谈及中国社会目前面临的种种问题。道德的缺失、素养的不足，一个只有物质没有精神的个人、国家、民族是没有未来的。作为一个从事绘画创作的人可以为这个社会做些什么呢？我觉得这个社会需要创新的同时也需要传承；不仅需要解构更需要确立。在几乎所有的一切都在加速飞奔的此刻，我们需要回归。我希望通过自己的绘画能够传达出这样的精神内核：宁静、宽和、优雅、内敛。它是东方的，从创作手法、绘画理念、审美趣味都与伟大的中国艺术传统有着血脉之连。我希望自己的绘画能够在这个纷乱吵杂的世界里构筑起一片小小的宁静，提示出虽然微小，却是有益的正面精神。

　　At our leisure, we often talk about the problems which Chinese society is currently facing. There are too much moral corruption and intellectual deficiency nowadays; a person who is materially rich and spiritually hollow, so as for a nation and a people. As a painter, what can I do for the society? I think we need both innovation and inheritance, deconstruction and construction. In a time when everything seems to accelerating and flying, we need to return to tranquility. I hope my paintings will express such spirit: tranquility, tolerance, grace and humility. My art is very oriental, by which I mean its technique, conception and beauty is inherited from the traditional Chinese art. Through painting, I wish I could build a peaceful little space among this noisily chaotic world. Small as it is, it's positive.

　　一个艺术工作者只要真正沉到自己的本真之中，他所采取的方式必然是具有民族性的，尤其是像中国这样有着悠久历史和独特艺术传统的国家。艺术家采取的方式必然是中国式的，而不会是西方式的，哪怕他长期旅居于国外。这种反应是自觉的，甚至是本能的，因为文化的影响是根深蒂固的，否则就会显得不真实。

　　Once an artist truly devoted himself in art, his method must have something to do with his national identity, especially in a country with a long history and unique traditions like China. A Chinese artist must work in a Chinese way instead of Western way, even if he has long been abroad. He does so subconsciously, or even instinctively, for the cultural influences are deeply rooted in him, otherwise they'll seem unreal.

　　对于我来说，采用中国式的表现语言，表达中国式的情绪和思考，是我个人内在自我的需要。这种需要源于生于斯长于斯的社会人文环境的影响。它甚至是先天的、宿命的。我小时候长期生活于江苏无锡市的外公外婆家里。七十年代的时候，无锡市区的每家都有一个有线广播，那种方的木制盒子，挂在墙上，底下有一根长长的开关线，一拉广播就响了。有很长一段时期，每天晚上广播的结束音乐都是二胡独奏的《二泉映月》，悠远而苍凉，让人静静地沉入其中。当时我大概是八、九岁，常常会一个人在后屋听完曲子后再去楼上睡觉。几十年过去了，曲子还会时时萦绕于耳边，不仅是儿时江南静夜的回忆，甚至当时灶坊间里电灯泡暖暖的光线、空气里的味道、当地的风土人情、以及弄堂两边石灰墙暗暗的调子都会在脑海里清晰浮现。这些东西会不会沉潜到我的画里去？我想多少是会的。所以说传统文化的影响是潜移默化的，是入骨的。

　　For me, it is my personal need to express in a Chinese way and convey thoughts and emotion of Chinese style. This need stems from the humanist environment in which I was brought up. It may even be innate and predetermined.I spent my childhood largely with my grandparents in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. In the 1970s, cable radio is available in every Wuxi family. It was a wooden box hanging on the wall, with a long string on the bottom; when you pull that string, the radio would be on. For a long time, the radio broadcast every night ended with the Erhu solo "The Moon Over a Fountain" ("Er Quan Ying Yue" in Chinese). Its melody is so distant and desolate that we gradually became merged by it. I was about eight or nine years old then, and I often went to sleep upstairs after listening to the music. Decades later, the music still lingers in my ears. All the memories of my childhood become so clear: the warm bulb light from the kitchen, the smell in the air, the local customs, and the grey tones of the street wall. Will they submerge in my paintings? I think so, more or less they will. Thus the influence of traditional culture is subtle and deep in my blood.

　　现在我们看中国的传统绘画，更多的是从意象绘画的角度在研究，其实我觉得中国传统绘画里边还存在另一条线索，我把这条线称之为心象绘画。以宋朝山水画为例，他们的绘画与之后的山水画存在很大的差异。在画面上，他们的作品看上去是很写实很具象的，但事实并非如此。这里的山水并非一地山水，而是胸中丘壑的呈现。就如同我现在的绘画一样，我也在努力寻求心象的绘画表现。表面上的具象与写实并不是作品的重点，我只是在用画面中的形象来表达我的意念。

　　Today when we talk about the Chinese traditional painting, we pay more attention to its imago; I think there's another clue inside, which I call it the "mental imagery." Take the landscape painting of Song Dynasty for example, which differs greatly from the ones afterwards. They are realistic and figurative in appearance, but that's not what it seems to be. They are not imitations of real landscapes, but what appears in the artist's mind. Just as my paintings: I also try to represent the imagery in my mind. The point is not the realist and figurative form, they are just a way to express my ideas.

　　我目前的绘画理念和方法始于2000年，原来有画十年的打算，现在已经延长了三年，看来还有再画几年的必要。作为一种自创的绘画方法，从尝试探索，到慢慢成型，远比运用一种现成方法有着更多的困难。如同造剑，经过千锤百炼把一块顽铁敲打成一把应手的剑。往往别人看来很小的一个进步，实际上却要付出很多的心血。十三年了，我仍然在完善这种绘画方法，使其具有更为恰当的表现力，能更为确切精准地表达出我的意愿。可以说目前我的方向不是向前，而是向深处的挖掘。这种挖掘一方面是探寻更多表现的可能性，使得这种方法能够更深入。同时，也是会挖掘到“泉脉”，即艺术传统的脉络和心灵之源。

　　Times until it comes to form. Just as it takes many steps to cast a good sword from a block of iron. Those progresses that seem so small actually cost a great deal of effort. For 12 years, I am still improving this method, in order to express my conceptions more appropriately and precisely. To say the least, instead of moving forward, I am exploring in depths. Through the exploration I want to seek more possibility in expression, which in turns improve my method. While at the same time, I may be lucky enough to find the "springhead", which is the context of the development of art and the spiritual source.

　　有人说：重要的不是艺术。我同意这种说法。那么重要的是什么呢？我觉得也不是观念，而是态度。观念往往是别人的，是易变的。态度才是本质的，它是世界观和价值取向的呈现。在绘画中是玩世调侃还是郑重严肃？是现实再现还是精神凝结？颜料是覆盖还是堆积？画面是精巧还是朴拙？精神是西方的还是东方的？绘画的态度实际上就是人生的态度。孔子用“志于道，据于德，依于仁，游于艺”提出人的一个境界，无论这个境界能否完美达到，“艺”都是一个具体的显现。可以说绘画是我的生存状态，体现着我对于这个世界的一种态度。

　　Someone says: Art is not what matters. I agree to it. So what matters then? I don't think it is the concept, but the attitude. Concept often comes from others, and variable. While attitude is essential, it is the reflection of one's worldview and values. Should we be playful or serious to art? To represent the reality or to express the spirituality? To overlay the colors or accumulate them? A picture should be delicate or simple? With Eastern or Western thoughts? The attitude towards painting is in fact the attitude towards life. Confucius proposed an ideal state of mind like this: "Let the will be set on the path of duty. Let every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped. Let perfect virtue be accorded with. Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts." Whether this ideal could be achieved or not, "arts" will always be a substantial revelation.Painting is my existence, and it reflects my attitude to the world.

作者：徐晨阳