White Orchid

Digital Video
Variable

Inspiration China
White Box Gallery
Portland, OR
October 8, 2009-November 20, 2009

At the most basic level, handwriting and painting are man’s most personalized forms of mark making. Each stroke or flick of a pen or brush tells us something inherently unique about the writer or artist. Many Chinese say that writing ultimately shows a person’s innermost character.

Chinese writing, like brush painting, has structured methods of creation with traits and techniques as distinctive as the artists who create it.

This project is a macro view of the choreographed dance between brush, ink, and paper. This video reveals a sensuous flow and tempo as the ink is diffused onto the paper in the most precise yet expressive way. The brush moves through the frame in sweeping and staccato movements. There is a give and take between the pressing and lifting of the brush as the ink meets the paper. It gives a pervasive look into a tactile process that is somewhat hidden – and nearly forgotten – in an increasingly digital world.

Thank you to Ming Fen Lee for her permission to be filmed and interviewed for this video.