Alternative Landscape Series - Fragrant Mountains (異山水 系列)

This diptych presents a contemporary reimagining of traditional Chinese landscape painting. The composition spans two panels, depicting a serene mountain landscape where peaks and valleys are rendered in a combination of watercolor washes and intricate black lace patterns. The foreground mountains are painted to simulate layered black lace with complex floral and geometric patterns, while the distant peaks dissolve into subtle washes of blue-gray watercolor against a cream-colored background. The traditional elements of Chinese landscape painting – the balanced composition, the play between void and form, and the rhythmic arrangement of peaks – are maintained while being radically reinterpreted. Each panel is marked with the artist's seal, following traditional painting conventions. The artist's technical execution is particularly noteworthy in how it manages to maintain the essential qualities of traditional shanshui painting while introducing entirely new textural elements. The lace-formed mountains in the foreground carry an unprecedented tactile quality, their patterns creating a complex interplay of light and shadow that recalls the traditional texturing techniques of cunfa (皴法) in Chinese landscape painting.

Created By

Hong Wai