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Homeland
Details
LI XIAOKE (B. 1944)
Homeland
Scroll, mounted and framed
Ink on paper
96.6 x 180 cm. (38 x 70 7/8 in.)
Executed in 2012
“Ink Wash Homeland is a theme that resonated deeply with me and that I frequently return to over the years. For many places that are historical, cultural, those related to our experience and connected with our emotions, may vanish before we realise it. The courtyard houses in Beijing, hutong, willows under the wall, the red walls outside the Imperial city, and the boulevards shaded by old locust trees…all these sceneries affect our thoughts and emotions; we become emotionally reliant upon them and they become our spiritual sustenance. I hope to use my ink paintings to express and retain these powerful impressions and memories that are slowly fading away.” – Li Xiaoke
For Li Xiaoke, the concept of homeland suggests both the tangible environment one inhabits, and the intangible, traditional culture which one learns and embraces. Both interpretations offer the artist enormous space for imagination and expression. The artist’s fond memories of growing up in a hutong with artists from his father’s generation such as Wu Guanzhong, Zhang Ding, and Huang Yongyu provide great creative fuel for his Ink Wash Homeland series of nostalgic portraits depicting Beijing before much of its old housing was demolished in the past decade. From an aerial perspective, one is enthralled at the expansiveness of old Beijing, its architectural harmony accumulated through the centuries. Li’s treatment of the traditional house rooftops with interspersing lines and negative space gives viewers breathing space amidst the densely built metropolis, cut through by two thoroughfares with bikers traversing the city. Li transforms his traditional skill in landscape painting that he learned from his father Li Keran to create distinctly personalized depictions of a cityscape that is most dear to his heart.
Homeland
Scroll, mounted and framed
Ink on paper
96.6 x 180 cm. (38 x 70 7/8 in.)
Executed in 2012
“Ink Wash Homeland is a theme that resonated deeply with me and that I frequently return to over the years. For many places that are historical, cultural, those related to our experience and connected with our emotions, may vanish before we realise it. The courtyard houses in Beijing, hutong, willows under the wall, the red walls outside the Imperial city, and the boulevards shaded by old locust trees…all these sceneries affect our thoughts and emotions; we become emotionally reliant upon them and they become our spiritual sustenance. I hope to use my ink paintings to express and retain these powerful impressions and memories that are slowly fading away.” – Li Xiaoke
For Li Xiaoke, the concept of homeland suggests both the tangible environment one inhabits, and the intangible, traditional culture which one learns and embraces. Both interpretations offer the artist enormous space for imagination and expression. The artist’s fond memories of growing up in a hutong with artists from his father’s generation such as Wu Guanzhong, Zhang Ding, and Huang Yongyu provide great creative fuel for his Ink Wash Homeland series of nostalgic portraits depicting Beijing before much of its old housing was demolished in the past decade. From an aerial perspective, one is enthralled at the expansiveness of old Beijing, its architectural harmony accumulated through the centuries. Li’s treatment of the traditional house rooftops with interspersing lines and negative space gives viewers breathing space amidst the densely built metropolis, cut through by two thoroughfares with bikers traversing the city. Li transforms his traditional skill in landscape painting that he learned from his father Li Keran to create distinctly personalized depictions of a cityscape that is most dear to his heart.
Brought to you by
Carmen Shek Cerne