Zen

Often recognised in the form of a rounded triangular red dot, Lui’s lotus flower in Zen appears in an extraordinarily and rarely seen figurative manner, its petals shining in bright hue of saffron. Like many of Lui’s great Zen paintings, this work is not signed nor dated, and is marked only with a few of Lui’s seals. Zen is an exemplary example of Lui’s wet style, where he sprinkled water drops and diluted ink and colour on the surface of the painting in an unrestrained manner. Lui’s abstract Zen paintings always represent a universal theme – the lotus, which symbolises eternity, purity and Buddhahood. His wet style painting is complex, transparent and fervently energetic; it expresses the artist’s emotion at its most complex. With diluted ink applied in various types of brushstrokes, the orange lotus petals and their reflection scattered in the horizon and unite the lotus, its leaves, and the lotus pond into one expression, which welcomes viewers to meditate upon Lui’s lifelong pursuit of Zen.