艺术对我来讲，意味着一条孤独的求索之路。

　　夜深人静的时候，自己的脑力和体力几乎消耗殆尽，或者说是在自由自在的状态，我开始创作。尽量排除脑海中所有的范式，注意力集中在画面可能性的呈现中。心无旁骛，物我两忘，逃避主观预设和能动。我在水、墨、纸之间最纯粹的媒介里用不同的实验来追问艺术创作的初衷，这种自觉的空间建构对应了我的感知。

　　如何用水墨解除困惑是我近年来的设问，如何表达又成为我不可耐的愿望，为此我不断地尝试。源于建筑师的专业背景，我在如何使“笔墨”得到理性表达，或者说是控制方面进行了反复探索，直至对工具改良。首先是“笔”的实验，毛笔的使用是中西方绘画拉开距离的根本，然而在运笔过程中不可避免地会产生前重后轻、前实后虚、前大后小等现象。我尝试着改进毛笔的结构，制作出既能够饱含墨汁，又能够均匀书写的“笔”，这样的“笔”可以确保在较长距离的书写过程中保持墨迹连续性，为大尺幅作品创作奠定了基础。为适应我的绘画要求，“笔”的笔锋必须形成均匀、致密的笔触效果，我又为此改进毛笔的质地。探索墨的特性，我最终选择了日本生产的墨汁，它的胶性比较弱，便于顺畅地运笔。在这之后，我将中国传统绘画中对于的建筑描绘经常采用“戒尺”的画法，制造特殊的大型的戒尺，这一切举措都明确了我绘画的方法和画面的结构。这样介绍我的绘画工具与方法的改良，并不意味着将“笔墨”固化。相反，当我逐渐改进自己的绘画方式，行笔的缓急、运笔的提按，以及方向的交错让我获得了新的自由。由此，我可以放弃对传统“笔墨”的依赖，让“笔墨”进一步在材料层面展现它的丰富性，在理性基础上创造出一种新的可能。

　　当工具改进之后，新的图像出现了，那就是宣纸的特性与质感。宣纸从制造到出厂需要多道工序，在成品的宣纸上面均会留下痕迹，因为其十分微弱，不易被发觉，一般传统绘画和书写是不会顾及的。宣纸的这些纹理基本上有五种类型：一是弧形纹理，位于宣纸的各个部位，对着光线可以看到其细致均匀，有着不同方向；二是褶皱纹理，粗燥且厚重，处于宣纸的边角部位，这对于大幅面宣纸尤为明显；三是折叠痕迹，位于宣纸的中间部位，这些纹理是通长的、笔直的；四是水印纹理，分布在宣纸的个别部位，形状很随机，可能是制作和运输过程中受潮等影响遗留下的；五是包装痕迹，是在包装运输过程中留下的印记，基本上与折叠痕迹有类似性，以上这些宣纸的纹理并不是我事先发现的，而是在笔黑纸白的砥砺中，以及痕迹细微中跃然纸上。当然，也不能放过宣纸下面的“毡子”，因为折叠和长期使用而形成的不平和粗糙的状态均对行笔产生干预和影响，也会使画面上形成相应的印记。

《201705》 朱小地 487x193cm 纸本水墨 2017

　　因此，笔、墨、纸、毡子等材料通过我的行为产生的景象呈现出新的结构和语言。我思考着突破二维画面的限制，在垂直于画面方向进行空间和时间的探索。虽是简简单单的一笔，都可以出现多个层次，我觉得这里存在着巨大的能量，迫使我依据材料特性将其形式的可能性挖掘到底。比如一条折纸的线条，在最初被发现之后，可能就成为绘画过程中的一个重要元素。画面中的线、面、体不同纬度空间的共存与转换，因其书写方法的不同，出现浓重、结实和质感，蕴藏着时空复杂性和视觉不确定性，恰恰和中国传统绘画中“散点式”构图有类似的效果，引导着观看的视线在画面中游走，从而将时间的维度加入画面之中，丰满了平面中不同纬度的时空转化，同时也给观看角度转换带来视幻提供了可能。

作品局部 朱小地 纸本水墨 2016

　　我在绘画中没有预设的造型，没有具象的内容，依靠的是潜意识。从绘画的第一笔就进入了一个发现的历程。当我站在画面上操作时，近距离目睹“象”的逐渐显现，经常会被感动，可以说我是自己作品的第一观众。随着行为的演进，不断发现已存在的、但尚未被发现的内容，挖掘发现的可能。顷刻时间与空间模糊了，生与死模糊了，真理和谬误模糊了，甚至产生幻觉，开始怀疑起肉身的存在，这一纯粹观念性的实验，是关乎环境、行动和内心的统一，是精神的意象，亦是开启心智的历程。画结束的时候，它便成就了我的此时此地。

　　“水墨”的世界是单调的，空寂的，甚至是宗教的。我开始意识到这种寂寞产生的情绪更具能力，它无关对应的现实，是对既定自我的颠覆。我渐渐理解“觉醒”在于“自觉”……

My ink

　　By the middle of the night, my body and mind are almost exhausted; I begin to paint in an unconscious state. This is the only way that I can remove the conventional form away from my thought. To focus my whole attention on the possibilities that could be represented in the paper, I have to overcome the influence of my subjectivity. In between the purest mediums black and white, water and ink, I use experimentation to help explore my original artistic creativity. This self-awareness of the spatial structure corresponds to my psychological perception, to looking back at myself; this is a solitary journey for me.

　　Understanding how to take ink painting to a new level has always been an important question fuelling my work in recent years. Learning how to control the interactions between the ink and paper to accurately express my concept has become an urgent and exciting subject for me. Therefore, I have found myself in deep contemplation. Similarly to the practice used by architects, I kept exploring how to contrail my brush technique in order to generate rational expression. This search has resulted in me rebuilding my tools. At first, I made the experiment on “brush pen”. Brush pen is the basic form of Chinese painting, but when wielded, the stokes are inevitably uneven, for example, too heavy at the beginning but too light later, substantial at the beginning but empty later, or large at the beginning but small later. I attempted to improve the structure of the brush pen and create one brush that is full of ink and able to write evenly. Such a brush can make sure that the ink marks keep continuous during a longer time of painting, which can also build a foundation for creating the works of a large size. To meet the requirements of my painting, namely, the strokes of “brush pen” must be well distributed and compact, I improved the texture of brush pen. As for the characteristics of ink, I selected Japanese ink, which has a comparatively weak colloidality beneficial for the smooth of brush wielding. Afterwards, I made a special large ferule according to the “ferule” drawing used in architectural drawing in traditional Chinese painting. All of this determines my painting methods and structure of paints. This kind of improvement on my painting tools and methods does not mean solidifying the “brush and ink”. On the contrary, I acquired new freedom when I improved my painting methods gradually. The slowness and speediness of wielding the brush, lifting and pressing the brush, as well as changing the direction of stroke can conform to my subjective mood. Therefore, I don’t depend on the “brush and ink” anymore and can let them express their diversification further on the material level and open a new possibility on the basis of rationality.

　　After the improvements to my ‘ink and brush’, a new discovery appeared to me, which was Xuan paper, which contained an interesting texture and unique features. Xuan paper requires a multi-step manufacturing process in order to become the final product. During this manufacturing procedure, there will be marks left on the paper. These traces are miniscule and hard to notice, visually. If you are working in a traditional ink painting and writing style then you will not notice these aberrations. There are five types of Xuan paper texture. The first is a curved texture, generally located on various parts of the Xuan paper, when the paper is illuminated we can see the textures are fine and uniform, and angled in different directions; the second is the gauffer texture, which is usually in the corners of the Xuan paper. This is particularly significant for large format paper, and this type of texture creates a rough and heavy texture. The third texture type is fold mark. This is usually located in the middle of the Xuan paper, and the texture is long and straight. The fourth is watermark texture, generally distributed on some areas of the Xuan paper, which is the result of increased moisture content; the shape is very random. The final texture is created through packaging marks that are left on the paper during its transportation, and this type has a similar shape to the fold marks texture. These five types of texture are found and enhanced from my “brush and ink” therefore, in this way, the overlooked textures are vividly identifiable on the Xuan paper during my creative process. Furthermore, there is another important tool that must be mentioned, which is the felt fabric placed underneath the Xuan paper. This material is simply a normal blanket that been used in traditional ink painting. There is some asymmetry provided by the long-term folding of the felt. This underlying asymmetry leaves traces on the Xuan paper. Hence, the use of the brush, ink, paper and felt helps me produce new possibilities and reveals new structures and languages in my work.

　　I was pondering over how to break the limitations of two-dimensional planes for my work, and how to explore space and time from a perpendicular point of view to my creative works. Many different planes emerged with a simple brush movement thanks to the use of the new materials. Thus, I began to realise the tremendous amount of energy within the movement of the brush, delving into the possibilities of forms based on the materials’ properties. For example, the first time that I discovered the fold marks on the paper, it became an important element to my drawing process. During this process there were traces left on the paper, and these elements were not only produced by the brush and ink, but also by the uneven surface of the felt and the production mark of the X paper. Furthermore, some parts of those over layering traces appeared as clear-cut blank space, whilst others revealed the texture of the felt, or gradually formed a new structure created through the handling of the brush (lift, press, roller, compaction). The creation of a dense solid space formed by the lines is a new way of representing space. The flow and turns found in traditional Chinese architecture, as well as the concept of the cavalier perspective, are reflected in the coexistence and transformation of lines, planes, and volumes through different dimensions.

　　There are no specific images or presentational images in my work. At the very beginning of my first stroke, I began a discovery process; the different directions of my brush movements are formed in response to the different planes. The combination of different planes produces different volumes. Throughout the creative process, I was standing on large-scaled paper; I am immersed with the experience. After I stood away from my finished work, I began to question the relationship between the work and me. I separated myself from the work and looked back from the perspective of my audience, and this feeling showed a new world in front of me. I was touched by my work. As the process continued, I constantly found the content existed but had not yet been found; at the same time, I was trying to explore the possibility of what could be found. At this moment, the boundary between time and space, life, and death, truth and fallacy all blurred; I even began hallucinating and questioning my own existence. This was a purely experimental process, which was all about the concept of painting. It also related to the unity of the environment, action and inner construction. At last, an image of the spirit and the journey was opening up in my mind. When the painting was finished, the creation had reached its end. The result expressed both the work and “me” in that particular time and place.

　　The world of “ink painting” can be monotonous，empty, and even religious. I began to realise that a lack of passion created by this loneliness can be even more devastating. The creative process I use for my ink work has nothing to do with the real environment，but it has become a method of self-subversion. I began to understand why experiencing an ‘awakening’ is so important, which was only possible because of “Me-self”.

《201710》 朱小地 205x201cm 纸本水墨 2017