To write about Cui Xiuwen and her works is not easy even though we have been very close friends for many years, because she is always changing and you cannot know what she will be like and what she will create a year from now. She herself is full of contradictions, tender yet strong, naïve yet knowing, fashionable yet traditional, serious yet facetious...all these opposites combined harmoniously, to construct the visual nature of her work.

　　Cui Xiuwen is always trying to find new ways of creation, from oil painting to video, performance, photography and installation but one thing that is unchanged is her focus on the female, whether shameless in the “Love” series, coquettish “xiaojie” of the night club in “Ladies”, bored and weary in “Subway”, with curled long hair repeating the same actor's lines in “Public Space”, the young girl with the red scarf in “Sanjie” or simply pregnant in her most recent works. I always seem attracted to one particular image - a girl lying on the ground with her pregnant belly heaving in the air. Each time I look at the “Angel” series, several questions appear in my mind:

　　“Why is a pregnant girl the dramatis personae?”

　　“Why is she so pretty with her delicate peach-like makeup?”

　　“Why does she wear a white skirt?”

　　“Why is a construction site the environment?”

　　“What has she done wrong?”

　　And

　　“Why is there is a drop of tear-water at the corner of her closed right eye?”

　　……

　　In many traditional images, the pregnant woman is depicted as peaceful and serene, immersed in the happiness of receiving new life. This one is completely different. She is painted, she is painful, and she is too young. Even though she lies down peacefully, even though the picture plane is stable, she is in my view a volcano waiting to burst at any moment. I feel the force of a silence comprising too much sophistication. The image is paradoxical — she is beautiful but not in the traditional sense. She does not meet the Chinese moral standard. She is too young. To be married. There is no man in the image. She occupies one third of the picture, while the rest is cold blooded construction place and crepuscular sky. Was the baby made by love? Was it a reluctant accident? Or a rape? Why is she alone? Has she lost anything other than her innocence? Is it dusk or dawn?

　　Perhaps we may understand “A Tear for Whom” after answering these questions.

　　就我而言，品评崔岫闻和她的作品并非易事，虽然我们已是多年的朋友。因为她总是处于变化之中，她的生活和创作在来年会是怎样一番情景往往不甚清晰。她本人就是一个充满了矛盾的个体，柔和而坚强、天真而明事理、时尚而传统、严肃而诙谐……所有这些相互冲突的元素和谐地共处，构成了她作品的特殊视觉效果。

　　崔岫闻总是在寻找新的创作方式，从架上到录像、表演、摄影以及装置，不变的是她对于女性主题的关注，无论她们以何种形象出现在她的作品当中，《爱》系列中狂放的裸女、《洗手间》里香艳的“小姐”、《地下铁》上乏味而无聊的中年妇女、《公共空间》里留着长长的卷发、不断重复着同一句台词的女人、带着红领巾的《三界》女孩或是她近作里怀孕的少女。我总是为其中的一幅作品所吸引——女孩躺在地上，腹部高高地隆起。每一次欣赏《天使》系列，我的脑海里总会浮现出一系列的问题：

　　“为什么选择一位怀孕的女孩作为主人公?”

　　“为什么她带有如此娇艳的妆容?”

　　“为什么她身穿白裙?”

　　“为什么选择建筑工地作为背景?”

　　“她做错什么了吗?”

　　以及

　　“为什么在她闭合的眼角有一滴眼泪?”

　　……

　　在许多传统绘画当中，怀孕的女子总是被描绘得平和而安详，沉浸在迎接新生命的喜悦之中。这幅作品则完全不同。她太艳丽、太痛苦、太年轻。即便她安安静静地躺在那里，即便画面采用了稳定的构图方式，在我眼里她却是一座火山，蓄势待发。我从这种复杂的沉默当中感觉到某种力量。图像本身是矛盾的——她是美丽的，但并非传统意义上的美丽。她没有符合中国传统道德的标准。她太过年轻，尚未到适婚的年龄。画面上没有出现男性的形象。她占据了三分之一的位置，余下的部分是冷漠的建筑工地和暗淡的天空。她腹中的孩子是与恋人相爱的结晶?是某场意外所致?或是因为强奸?她为什么独自一人?除了纯真她还丧失了什么?画面背景究竟是黄昏还是佛晓?

　　或许在回答了所有这些问题之后，我们会明白这是“为谁而流的一滴泪”。

作者：汪芸