The interviewees：ZHANG Zikang (hereinafter referred to as ZHANG)

Interviewer：YANG Xinxin (hereinafter referred to as YANG)

 　　Enlightenment : Interest and Afterwards

　　YANG : As a person born in the 1960s, I am sure that your deepest memories of childhood are directly related to that period of time. As these memories still appear in your mind frequently, how will you evaluate their influence on your artistic creation?

　　ZHANG : When I was born, China had just gone through "the three-year difficult period". People were relatively poor. It seemed that everyone born in that period had a bit of malnutrition. It was also the most difficult time for my family when I was born, and my deepest impression of the time was that I rarely had enough to eat. Therefore, I always feel that I am congenitally deficient, not only physically, but also in my cultural accomplishment. Although it was a time of material poverty, what was left in my memory about childhood was still happiness. I sometimes went stealing vegetables and watermelons with elder kids to feed ourselves and had fun. As I was very little at that time, I rarely thought about whether it was right or wrong to do something. All I cared about were the fun and the satisfaction of my nature. One thing that had left a deep impression on me was when I was in primary school, there was a carpenter in our village. His name was Zhang Jinyu. In addition to his regular carpentry, he was also good at painting. He would draw some patterns on the furniture as well as draw some sketches. My deepest impression was the scenery he drew of a child playing by the water with a lotus leaf on his head. The picture was very vivid. I always watched him drawing and occasionally, I would draw some pictures myself.

　　At that time, my family was not very supportive of my drawing, as they didn't consider it the right track of life. Although they knew how much I loved drawing, they had always been urging me to catch up with my academic subjects, hoping my drawing would not interfere with my studies. It was until the fourth year in primary school did my father gave me the book, "Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting", which was in the ancient version and printed in black and white. He told me that this book was the collection of my grandfather's father when he studied painting. Both of my grandfather and my father were doctors of traditional Chinese medicine. They had collected many books on traditional Chinese medicine, so I always got the chance to read my father's collections, such as "Compendium of Materia Medica". However, I never consider these books were for traditional Chinese medicine. Instead, as there were many colorful images of flowers, trees and vegetation, I would try to draw down the images on the books.

　　Of course, although many of my contemporaries would have memories of the hardness of that period of time, in general, my memories of childhood was pleasant. Till now, I would always recall the time full of children's simplicity and the two books I read when I was little, It can be said that "Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting" and "Compendium of Materia Medica" enlightened my drawing in the childhood.

　　YANG : You have mentioned that the carpenter's drawing of a child playing by the water with a lotus leaf on his head and the flowers, trees and vegetation in "Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting " and "Compendium of Materia Medica " have left a deep impression on you. What is the most important influence they have posed on your painting?

　　ZHANG : In fact, these are far from the most important influence. I would rather day that they inspired my most preliminary understanding of paintings, and made me think that paintings must be intensely alive and lifelike. Therefore, my judgement of paintings was still based on a very unprofessional sense, in which, being lively and interesting were the only standards. Such feeling for art was obscure and instinctive. So, their influence on my painting was not on the professional aspect, but for their cultivation of my interest in art and paining. Without this interest in art, I may have nothing to do with painting now. From this perspective, their influence was more significant than the professional issues as they did changed my life path. After all, this first step was the beginning for the following steps to now. None of my contemporaries around me learned painting at that time, nor did my classmates paint at school. My interest in painting was from my experience of learning calligraphy with my father when I was young. Being good at calligraphy, I was always asked to write the blackboard newspaper. After I enrolled in junior high school, I even got the chance to write slogans in artistic font on the street. I still remember that there were many propaganda pictures on the walls along the streets in the village. These propaganda pictures were very skillful and dedicated. At that time, many professors from the Central Academy of Industrial Arts and China Central Academy of Fine Arts were living in the country to engage in reform through labor. They painted many propaganda murals, which left a deep impression on me. I longed for being able to paint as well as they did one day.

　　YANG : Do you mean that from then on, you started to take painting as your worldly ideal?

　　ZHANG : Not the worldly ideal, but a longing! The one who really turned painting into my ideal was a professor I met when I was about to graduate from senior high school, Professor Feng Zhen from China Central Academy of Fine Arts. It was back in 1980 when Professor Feng came to m y hometown to carry out a research on New Year paintings. In fact, she had visited my hometown in 1947, during the period of the land reformation, and she and my father were comrades in arms. Professor Feng was very familiar with my hometown, so she chose to go back to the country she was familiar with to conduct the research. Due to this family bond, I got the chance to meet her. She hung the New Year paintings in the homes of local people and asked for their opinions. At that time, my father sent me to assist Professor Feng with some simple works. Professor Feng knew I liked painting, so she let me learn to paint from her and gave me instructions. She would frequently appraise me for painting well. Her encouragement had a significant influence on me. It was from that moment did I start to consider the possibility for me to be an artist. To be exact, my idea to be an artist emerged from that time, not before. After Professor Feng finished her research and went back to Beijing, she deliberately sent me some teaching materials for painting, which were used in China Central Academy o f Fine Arts, and asked me to study hard on painting. One of the teaching materials was about composition ("Mr. Pan Tianshou's Lecture Notes-on Composition") and the other was about "drawing horses "("Collection of Xu Beihong's Paintings of Horses") . From these books, I learned about composition for the first time. The knowledge in these books still have a major influence on my paintings till now. After graduating from senior high school, I stayed in Professor Feng's home and attended classes at China Central Academy of Fine Arts. Professor Feng deliberately invited some masters, including Li Kuchan, Ye Qianyu, Jiao Kequn, Xu Jizhuang, Sang Jiewu and Liang Changlin to teach and instruct my painting. I kept lots of manuscripts of that time. Unfortunately, they were lost. I also got the chance to visit many exhibitions of both Chinese paintings and oil paintings. I got interested in oil painting and saw many realistic oil paintings. I was so excited after visiting those oil painting exhibitions that I told Professor Feng I wanted to study oil painting. Considering that there were not sufficient conditions for studying oil painting in local schools, which would make it difficult for me to make any achievements, she suggested that it would be better for me to study Chinese painting. In order to cultivate me in Chinese painting, Professor Feng took me to National Art Museum of China to see exhibitions of masters in Chinese painting, such as Xu Beihong, Huang Binhong and Lu Yanshao. She even introduced each painting and explained their strengths and weaknesses for me.

　　In fact, I have also learned a lot from Professor Feng on how to behave, even the professional ethics of "doing every work well to achieve perfection", which I still stick to till now, was cultivated at that time. Professor Feng represented the spirit of the people of that time who devoted themselves to art.

　　YANG : How long had you studied at Chine Central Academy of Fine Arts? And the way of attending lectures there must had a great impact on your foundation of art!

　　ZHANG : I studied there for about one year, then, I returned to Shijiazhuang. Upon my returning, Professor Feng introduced me to Mr. Tian Xinfu and Mr. Zhong Zhihong, who were the chairman and the vice chairman of Heibei Artists Association at that time. She encouraged me to continue my study of painting. Later, at the art training class, I received guidance from several teachers, including Zhang Yuchun, Sun Huanchang, Li Xiong and Wang Guobin. I also made friends with my classmates, such as Sun Dehui, Kou Bin, Yue Minjun, Yang Hongying, Ma Bing, Chen Yanming, Zhang Heyan, Liu Zengyin and Zhang Boyuan.

　　I kept painting while working. Although the work was miscellaneous and difficult, I insisted studying at the art training class for about three years. During this period, I participated in the college entrance exam. I failed the professional courses in the first year. In the second year, although I passed the professional courses, the score of my academic subjects was not high enough, making me lose the opportunity to attend the university again. In the third year, I spent an entire 3 months to concentrate my study on the academic subjects, and eventually, I was admitted by Hebei Normal University. As it was a normal university, students were not divided into different majors in the first two years. So, all of us had to study the basic courses, painting from life, sketches, color and design. Later, when it came to the time for selecting a major, Professor Jiang Zhongxing from the Oil Painting Major encouraged me to study oil painting as he though my sense and control of color were excellent. However, I followed Professor Feng Zhen's suggestion and chose Chinese painting as my major although I still loved oil painting inside my heart.

　　YANG : Except for painting, did you have any other hobby at college? We all know that the 1980s was a time period that many people miss very much, as it was a time that so many rich and colorful things entered into the blank background all in a sudden.

　　ZHANG : I was admitted by the university in 1985, which was exactly when the "'85 Modern Art Movement" emerged in the art circle. All sorts of Western art concepts came in a throng. Under this background, both my vision and my thoughts had been significantly challenged. It wasfrom that time did I come in contact with many classic works of Western modern philosophy. I had read the works by Schopenhauer, Satre and Freud… I had an unlimiteddesire for knowledge at that time, and was full of curiosity about the world. I saw many modern paintings and got to know the artistic creations of some domestic modern artists. There were many arguments and thoughts in my mind, but I had not started to try them yet. Instead, I still did more practice in the academic and traditional aspects.

　　Persistence : Art Is What I Could Not Leave and Could Not Go Without

　　YANG : After graduating from university, did you ever think about choosing the career to be a professional artist?

　　ZHANG : When I was studying at Hebei Normal University, the only thing in my mind was keeping painting . However, I knew clearly that to be an artist directly after graduation was not a realistic choice. When I graduated from university, I also knew that it was very difficult to get a job in a professional production organization. But fortunately, the jobs I took were always related to art, and I had kept painting since graduation.

　　My first job was to be an editor at Hebei EducationPress. Hebei Education Press has published many great books. My duty in the first year was to work on the newspaper at the basic level. I was mainly in charge of painting the illustrations for the newspaper, conducting interviews, drafting some stages art designs and so on. When I returned to Hebei Education Press from the basic level, I mainly worked as the art editor for books. Later, I was appointed to be the director of the Cultural Newsrooms. In the process of the publishing practice, I kep t accumulating knowledge in design and culture without any interruption.

　　It was around the year 2000, Hebei Education Press established a publishing company in Beijing, named "Song Ya Feng". I was the responsible person of the new company and bore the full responsibility of various segments of books, such as the planning, drafting, editing, designing, printing, distributing and releasing, so on and so forth. I was extremely busy at that time, as we didn't have enough hands for the work. When the company was first founded, almost all works were done by me alone. Back then, I always thought about how to understand a book and how to create a book that was appealing to readers. We did pretty well and had generated a significant influence across the country. We published many influential books, not only professional books for the art major, but also popular readings in art. All of the books had been very well received by the publishing circle. Many masters, including Li Keran, Wu Guanzhong, Zhang Ding, Ye Qianyu, Huang Yongyu, Huang Miaozi, Hua Junwu and Wang Shixiang, had their books published by our publishing company. Our publishing company was the first in the country to hire big-name designers, and we had cooperated with some outstanding designers such as Mr. Lv Jingren and Mr. Ahn Sang-soo, who was from Korea. Later, I coordinated Mr. Ahn Sang-soo to provide courses for students at School of Civic Design of China Central Academy of Fine Arts. The courses were mainly about the binding design for books. Mr. Ahn Sang-soo is not only a designer, but also an excellent artist. In addition to binding designs for books, his comprehensive art works also include behavior art, installation art and photography. From my aspect, I would teach students the arts of binding design from a relatively unique angle. I would talk about the overall relevance between the design and the content of a book, discuss how to create a book with its external design and its internal "temperament" and "style" being supplementary to each other, and introduce how to figure out the aesthetic characteristics of a book, etc. The courses were not merely talking about design; the issues covered were also what the students were very interested in. It is difficult indeed to create a great book, and of course, I can find out some deficiencies from the books I created back then. The reason for this is the improvement of my understanding in books and the higher standard follows. But anyway, the devotion and hard work at that time shall not be denied by the progress I have now made.

　　In general, these working experiences related to design had a great influence on my later artistic creation. After that I also went to Bauhaus-Universitaet Weimar to systematically learn about the educational concepts of Bauhaus and study the Bauhaus design. Bauhaus design also had a major influence on me. The thought of art and design constituted by the Western modernism had broaden my vision as well as assisted me in getting through the overall understanding of Chinese paintings'composition mode, which was involved in "Mr. Pan Tianshou's Lecture Notes - on Composition", and the constitutional relation of Western designs and Western paintings. It can be said that there was a crash and integration of Eastern and Western artistic concepts in my mind.

　　YANG : When you design books, you would take the readers into consideration. Then, will you think about the viewers when you are painting? Will you try to intentionally guide the viewers?

　　ZHANG : I think they are two distinctive concepts. When I was creating a book, I would give full consideration on both the writers and readers. The newsroom acted as a go between or a bridge to communicate and connect with each side. It should keep thinking about how to fully embody the value to a book and how to attract the readers to read the book. How to comprehensively master the readers' feeling from receiving a book to reading a book? It should also consider multiple factors, such as the reading environment, the reading time and the reading status of the readers. However, in artistic creation, instead of paying attention to the viewers, I grant more consideration to the expression of my own thoughts and recognitions, including the reason why I want to paint and the meaning of painting. In this process, my own feelings and emotions seem to be more important. It is true that there are some artists who try very hard to please the audiences, but that seems inadvisable for me. In my opinion, an artist should continually discover his own uniqueness in the process of artistic creation, and should reflect on the value of his arts from the correspondences with the viewers. Also, a kind of academic discussion is needed so as to keep improving the ideological content, the pictorial language and the pictorial form of his painting. The question that always lingers on my mind is whether I can enlarge the artistic appeal of my works.

　　YANG : Except for the work in publishing, what other works have you done that have relatively bigger influence on your artistic creation?

　　ZHANG : During the 4-5 years working at the Cultural Newsroom of Hebei Education Press, I also published many literature works and got to know many literary giants of the country, including Ji Xianlin, Wang Yuanhua, Wang Zhaowen, Jia Pingwa, Feng Jicai, Liu Mengxi and Wang Meng. I edited and proofread many drafts and forced myself to read a huge amount of books. That experience was a particularly useful supplement for my cultural accomplishment. It was so important that till now, I am still grateful for that experience.

　　I took over Today Art Museum in 2004. At that time, I was still responsible for the publishing business of "Song Ya Feng". My original idea of taking over Today Art Museum was to broaden our publishing resources. Of course, more importantly, as I liked painting myself, I always had the desire for art museums. In my understanding, art museums are the palaces of art and it was a sacred thing to do to work in an art museum. At the very beginning I was not very clear about how to operate an art museum, so I mainly studied the successful cases abroad. In this process, I realized that a good art museum must have its academic altitude established. It should be good at discovering good artists and unearthing their innovation and uniqueness, and should be able to amplify these innovations and uniqueness in the society through an academic mechanism. An art museum that does well in academia is the one that continues to discover the not yet discovered but valuable arts and artists and enlarge their value through academic methods and approaches. The artistic objective of Today Art Museum is to discover experimental, creative and academic arts.

　　YANG : How did the experiences of working on the publishing with the masters, no matter in literature or art, affect you?

　　ZHANG : In fact, the process of publishing the books for the masters was also a process to conduct in-depth communication with them, and I had learned a lot from the process. The entirety of the book should be taken into consideration when I was creating a book for an art master. I would need to gain a thorough insight of his thought of creation and the method he adopted, as well as his personal experience, his art experience and how had these experiences influenced him. These had posed direct impact on my future artistic creation. For example, the publication process of two sets of books "The Complete Works of Chinese Famous Painters"and "The Complete Works of World Famous Painters" had impressed me a lot. I studies many cases of the artists and learned to appreciate and recognize the value of art. From this process, I discovered a rule that any artist who occupies an important place in the history of art has his own uniqueness and creativity and is able to create new values. It is the unique artistic thoughts, artistic languages and aesthetic orientations of the artists that have established their position in the history of art. In addition, many artists have experienced the transformation of their artistic language unconsciously and established manifest venations of artistic thoughts subsequently.

　　YANG : Then, from your perspective, is there a thought or concept that is already very clear to guide your artistic creations or you would create your works simply based on what you think of or what you see? Or can we say that artistic creation is a process of continuous discovery, modification and improvement?

　　ZHANG : Actually, the above working experience I mentioned had provided me the chance to understand and learn the journey that many artists had gone through in their artistic creation, from which, I had obtained many approaches for my own artistic creation. Sometimes, I would create after I have a clear idea. But most of the time, as the artistic language changes, the original way of thinking also changes. Therefore, I will have to keep exploring through experiments. In fact, my thoughts are not and will not be fixed, and cannot be accurately expressed through a certain language. It seems to be more honest for me to keep my thoughts full of the vagueness, ambiguities, collisions and integrations of all sorts of concepts and personal experiences.

　　YANG : No matter in the field of publishing or art museum, you should have seen many original works. How will that experience influence you?

　　ZHANG : From my point of view, the real study is to continuously broaden my vision, so that I can have a wide range of experience after having seen many works. Being able to work in the publishing industry and the art museum are valuable opportunities for me. They have provided me the chances to see, especially the chances to get closer and see the original works. I have seen the authentic works of many late masters and have in-depth communication with many high-achieving artists. In addition to broadening my vision and obtaining knowledge, it has also inspired me to rediscover the masters.

　　As another example, it was from my own interaction with Antoni Tapies that I found he was in a very low profile and lived a very quiet life. He was very concentrated on his own artistic creation and rarely paid attention to the social life in outside world. Before I met him in person, the Tapies I knew from books and other media was a mysterious and sophisticated artist as he was called the "magician of materials". But when I stepped into his life of creation, I found that his art was simple and sincere indeed. He told me that in fact every painting of his was a story. He might be inspired upon seeing his wife fetching the coal to cook when he woke up in the morning. His inspiration might just explode with no reason and based on which, he would create a painting. Many people don't understand the influence of the daily life on the artistic creation of artists

　　Nowadays, many artists have been pursuing only concepts and the theorization in the process of their artistic creation. However, they are not able to integrate the concept and the theory with their own work, which seems like attending to one thing and losing sight of another for me. I categorize theoretical artists into two types: the artists in the first type are unconscious and non-spontaneous; their theories are concluded by the public opinion, art critics and theorists' interpretation. They have retained their simplicity and innocence, but it cannot be denied that they are profound. The artists in the other type are self-driven. They emphasize on concepts, and they constantly ask questions and try to find ways to solve the problems. Different artists create different types of art in different ways with different languages. We should realize that the types of artists are very diverse. What we need to do is to be ourselves first, and to be an artist after that. We should not deliberately follow the paths that are not suitable for us, and we should not change according to the changing circumstances and force ourselves to cater to the preferences of others!

　　Experiment : Deny Myself Before Affirming Myself

　　YANG : Do you feel more relaxed in your artistic creation when you realize more about the diversity of personality and artistic creation?

　　ZHANG : After coming into contact with all types of artists, my solidified knowledge and recognition obtained in university was completely broken. The true value of art was not "skill" as we used to consider, instead, the value lied in the unique experience and unique creation of artists. Many successful artists had established their positions in the history of art by subverting our previous cognitions. Therefore, we should not view the diversified art with the same standard. In fact, complete imitation will never lead to success, while being completely free of imitation can neither guarantee success. Only when we have found the proper creative language and creative method can we really amplify our own artistic value. It is a process of recognize ourselves, finding ourselves and realizing the value of ourselves. Without finding himself, it will be difficult for an artist to explore and present his own individualized value.

　　YANG : You have read many books and have observed the artistic creation process of many artists. Will they arouse your own desire for artistic creation?

　　ZHANG : This is for sure. Sometimes, I will be very impulsive and want to start painting at once. But such impulsions vary at different stages. And as the intentions of them vary, their outcomes are also different. At the beginning, my impulsion as a student was want to paint as well as the masterpieces, which was an impulsion of imitation; after that, my impulsion was to integrate their artistic creation methods with my own creation, which was an impulsion of studying; eventually, when I see the works of other artists, I will think about how to differentiate my works from theirs and find an unique and important creation method of my own, which was an impulsion of breaking through.

　　There is no doubt that in the elder generation, Professo r Feng Zhen's influence on me was fundamental. She was my initiation teacher in painting. She taught me how to understand paintings and how to paint. I also benefitted a lot from my later communication with Mr. Wu Guanzhong . Mr. Wu Guanzhong was the first to propose the concept of "beauty in form" in the 1980s, which, from my point of view, had a significant meaning at that time. Although it had raised certain arguments or even criticism at the time, I still believe that it was actually the collision of the painting methods and painting ideas of modern paintings and realistic paintings. At that time, studying from Mr. Wu Guanzhong and discussing with him on issues of painting forms and contents, I was greatly influenced by some modern language in his paintings. Since I had read many books on modern paintings and designs, my acceptance of the Western modern arts made me understand and approve more of the idea of Mr. Wu.

　　In 1997, I presided over the publication of the book series, "Chinese Artists in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century: New Literati Paintings" and analyzed a group of excellent young and middle-aged artists, such as Tian Liming and Chen Ping. The contact with this group of artists made me have a more in-depth understanding of new literati paintings, which was a stream formed by the reflection of artists on the localization of Chinese paintings. And it was exactly where the meaning if new literati paintings lied. It also influenced my artistic creation of Chinese paintings. However, it now seems that these works of this group of artists are not that closely related to the concept of new literati paintings.

　　After that, I also got in contact with a group of artists on new ink paintings, such as Li Jin, Xu Lei, Liu Jin'an an d Liu Qinghe. I had already taken over Today Art Museum by that time, so how to discover experimental, creative and academic arts was the issue I was the most concerned about, as well as my direction and guiding principle in managing the work at Today Art Museum. This was what this group of artist and me had in common. Then, during the process I worked as the editor in chief for the book series "Chinese Artists Today", I started my research on contemporary art. I systematically studied the factors that had influenced contemporary arts and the way in which contemporary arts thought and created.

　　Since the year 2000, I have always been thinking about the value of contemporary artists, and have always been attracted by the uniqueness of the contemporary artists. This process was a certain subversion of my previous aesthetics and ideology. From the estrangement at the beginning to the integration latter and the clarity and transparency after that, my cognition for art and the construction of my ownartistic system had been formed.

　　YANG : What is the most charming for you in artistic creation as an artist?

　　ZHANG : When an artist has entered the stage of artistic creation, the happiest and the most painful thing is to constantly find himself and stretch himself. There will be ups and downs, successes and failures in the process. Artists need to steel themselves and make accumulations for a long period before they are able to find themselves. However, to what extend can artists find themselves and amplify their values in the society are influenced by multiple factors. Of course, it cannot go without the artists own talent, wisdom and personality, but the impact of other social factors should not be neglected. The process of finding myself and stretching myself is very attractive for me. It is a unique and irreplaceable personal experience. So far, it can be said that I have experienced a relatively complete process of art cognition. From having the preference in painting at the beginning to starting painting, from dreaming of being a painting to admiring the masters and approaching them, getting to know them, then realizing that to some extent, we are equal and exploring the wisdom and uniqueness of them. This is a relatively complete process. Of course, it is closely related to my experiences and developments through the years. After so many years of accumulation and precipitation, when I came back to work on artistic creation again, I felt that it became much

　　more handy. The most attractive part for me was that I was no longer dragged. In fact, "my hands can express my heart" freely no matter in the theme of the artistic creation or in the method of the creation.

　　Therefore, the "uniqueness" in art is what I value and hold in esteem. Before entering into the creation, I will also create my own uniqueness. This is what I have planned for, but I am not sure if I could succeed. Through large amount of paintings and experiments, I keep finding, revising and stepping forward. It is a tough procedure, as I have to both deny myself and affirm myself. It's exciting and fun. In this process of repetitive denying and affirming, I often feel that I need to scrap my previous paintings and start all over again, as there's no making without breaking. This is much determined by my personality. When I worked in publishing I had been trying hard to create something different and advanced. It 's the same in painting, exceeding myself is a very fun process to go through.

　　YANG : It is certain that artists' recognition for art is different from that of the public. As an artist, how do you view art ?

　　ZHANG : From my view point, painting is one of the most important categories of art. The decline of painting's position in recent years is related to the advancement of technology and the development of human thinking. Today's paintings are different from those in the past. Painting is constantly changing, but I strongly believe that it will not disappear. Painting has always been the art form that I am the best at and the best way for me to express my feelings. Painting is the main body for me, and this main body will broaden my ways of artistic expression in the future, such as installations and videos. In fact, these ways of artistic expression will also stimulate my transformation and breakthrough in painting, and integrate of them. That is why I will never give up painting, as it's the base.

　　On the one hand, my work is very busy, and I don't have much time for painting. Therefore, I really treasure the time I could spend on painting and try my best to utilize the time more efficiently. On the other hand, I still grant myself adequate time for thinking, as long-time consideration can help me finish the artistic creation faster. Having the landscapes in mind ensures my depiction of them. Keeping searching for the sense from painting may not be as effective as taking a pause to think. Most of the time, it is a random selection for me to decide what to paint. But sometimes, I will spend a lot of time and do a lot of work to think about what to paint and how to paint Reading, studying and communication always light up the inspiration.

　　YANG : Are you sensitive to images in your daily life? ill you spend time and energy to draw them down?

　　ZHANG : It can be said that I can always discover some interesting images that others won't notice. Then, instead of imitating them directly, I will think about how to convert these imaged to my own artistic creation. It is difficult to grasp the things I want while keep having new ideas, but an artist has to possess such a sensitive sense of touch and the capability to observe life.

　　In many cases, the capability to paint well is not

　　directly related to how long one has been practicing painting. And as for my own artistic creation, my paintings will not be purely realistic paintings that require a long time of modification. Of course, large and complex paintings definitely require longer time. But ultimately, the quality of art works are not related to their sizes and the time spent on them. Sometimes, art works created in a short period of time or those small in size can also be outstanding and powerful.

　　Breakthrough : Xinjiang and "the Passion for Advanture"

　　YANG : After you went to Xinjiang and even after you got back, what plan did you have for your artistic creation?

　　ZHANG : A new chapter of my artistic creation has already started since I went to Xinjiang. I did not have a specific plan, but I had a direction in mind and would like to make some directional attempts. Artistic creations cannot come from a rigorous planning. Till now, my major artistic creations are a series of works related to Xinjiang. Basically , they are all in the form of oil painting. Of course, there will be many new attempts in the future. For example, I have started working on a video work.

　　YANG : You had created many works of Chinese painting, and then you created a large amount of oil paintings. What was the causation for such transformation?

　　ZHANG : Actually, I started oil painting several decades ago, and have been getting in touch with oil painting since then. In my understanding, there is no significant difference between Chinese painting and oil painting. There is only a distinction in the materials adopted. The essence of art is the same. The language of Chinese painting is actually a Chinese way of thinking, but such spirit of Chinese ink can also be presented through oil paintings. Of course, the spirit of ink today has been generalized, and it is no longer the spirit of ink that ancient Chinese scholars praised highly.

　　YANG : Establishing your studio and creating works intensively can be considered as the preparation for transforming to an artist. Did all of them start when you went to Xinjiang?

　　ZHANG : Actually, all the time, whenever I have time, I will paint some works. But during the period when I was in Xinjiang, I had relatively more time than before for painting. Upon the stimulation I got from Xinjiang's unique and various regional characteristics, in sense and psychology, I created relatively more paintings. The landscape in Xinjiang was breathtaking. Surrounded by the beautiful scenes, I discovered the insignificance and debility as an individual in the world. The weather and the color of sky were changing unpredictably and the terrain feature was rich and varied. All of them kept inspiring my vision and thought. Their charm and vitality made me want to express the unique art tension of Xinjiang. In addition, the local customs and practices and the culture exchanges in Xinjiang had also opened up my mind.

　　YANG : Even though you have come back to Beijing , the impact of Xinjiang must still be lingering in your mind, right?

　　ZHANG : The geographical environment, natural scenery, local customs, history and culture of Xinjiang are so unique and rich. Turpan, Tajik Autonomous County of Taxkorgan, Nalati, Kanas, Kashi, Hotan, Kroraina, the Devil City and the South Xinjiang had left especially deep

　　impression on me. You would be shocked by their rapidlychanging scenes, from the desolate scene in the daytime to the screaming in the evening. The experience full of the sense of time, the sense of death and the sense of solemn and stirring have posed too much influence on my artistic creation.

　　Xinjiang had provoked my thoughts on the ultimate meaning of art for human beings. For me, it might mean the discussion and presentation of life and death. For example, when I was in Lop Nor, I heard from local people of its history and its previous richness and prosperity, however, what unfolded in front of me was the barren Gobi Desert. This directionless and endless desert had a particularly strong sense of death. The dead wood, which spread in a vast expanse of whiteness, were like skeletons, which could easily evoke the imagination of death. This irresistible power would bring people pressure and fear, and actually, we have been reconciling with such pressure and fear in the process of "being-towards-death". It is my hope to depict what I have seen and felt vividly through my paintings, because only through this way can my heart be released.

　　YANG : Do you mean that your paintings are actually dedicated to the discussion on life and death?

　　ZHANG : That's true. Maybe I had not realized it that clearly before, but now, it is clear that the issue of life and death has gone through all of my artistic creations. Without a thorough understanding in the issue, works can never achieve the perfection.

　　It can also be said that the exploration of the proposition of "life and death" will be the ultimate exploration of my artistic creation. For example, when subjects with lives are presented in my paintings, the only thing I can depict are the fixed moments, but these moments require my thinking of the whole life of the subjects and my expectations for their "next life". Although this "next life" may not in existence, it does exist in the world of art.

　　When a life is just born, I will always think about the hardness and difficulty it will encounter in its process of growing up; when I see the freshness and beauty of life, it always reminds me of the sadness when life is gone; and when the life is eventually gone, I will understand the eternal fate on its way of nirvana and reborn. For me, painting is a way to express my understanding of life and death and a standing point for me in the process of thinking about the issue, the point that makes my heart released.

　　YANG : Since 2014, you have created a large amount of works which are internally or externally related to the endless inspiration that Xinjiang has given you. What does Xinjiang mean to you for your development in art?

　　ZHANG : In fact, the first time I went to Xinjiang was back in 1993. But at that time, what I felt was just a kind of curiosity, for its geographical landscapes, as well as its costumes and religious believes that are different from the inner land. But when I went to Xinjiang again in 2013, what I felt was a common growth. I felt the trace of time and a power that could not be described with words. It can be said that the three years I spent in Xinjiang were very important for my artistic development. Xinjiang may not be the only theme of my art works in the future, but the art experience formed in Xinjiang and its influence on my artistic thought will accompany me for my whole life. They have even exceeded the aspect of art. They have influenced me in my judgment of value.

　　YANG : I do believe that you will keep experimenting and exploring in the future to find all possibilities for the

　　ZHANG : Yes, I will. My artistic creation will be meaningless without experimenting. Experiments mean the new "evolution" while the old means "regression" and "zero". If possible, I do hope I could keep exploring to realize the advancement of myself. Xinjiang is only a good start. There will be more explorations, no matter in contents or in forms, in the future. From this aspect, Xinjiang has become a theme for me to find and release my "passion for adventure", both in art and in life. What's more, I believe that this passion lit up by Xinjiang will keep being practiced and experimented in other themes and contents in the future.

本文节选自：张子康 / 张子康绘 北京 : 人民美术出版社