Created By
Mediha Ting
Acrylic on canvas
Curator
Luke Chapman
“Yellow Roses with Bleeding Heart” (黃剌䕷 魚兒牡丹) invites us into a meditative encounter with nature’s dualities-resilience and vulnerability, light and shadow. Against a deep black ground, the golden linework doesn’t merely outline, but illuminates: roses climb with quiet determination, their thorny stems entwined with the delicate, heart-shaped blooms of Lamprocapnos spectabilis. The negative space technique here is more than a compositional choice; it’s a poetic gesture. The darkness is not emptiness, but fertile ground from which the luminous forms emerge, each botanical detail rendered with precision and reverence.
In this work, Mediha Ting continues her artistic dialogue with Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shining, 郎世寧), the Italian Jesuit missionary and court painter of the Qing Dynasty. The pairing of European roses with the Asian-native Bleeding Heart creates a botanical metaphor for the cultural synthesis that characterized Castiglione's own work at the imperial court. The technical execution demonstrates masterful attention to botanical accuracy - a hallmark of Castiglione's style - while employing contemporary materials and techniques. The climbing composition with its graceful, extending branches reflects traditional Chinese painting principles of movement and space, while the precise delineation of each botanical element shows European influence. Through this work, Ting explores the continuing relevance of Castiglione's East-West artistic fusion in contemporary art practice, creating a sophisticated bridge between historical botanical painting traditions and modern artistic expression.
Created By
Mediha Ting
26 x 45 cm | 10 x 18 in
Golden frame
2022
