薰風自南來－龎銚個展

展覽日期｜2023.06.17 - 2023.07.16（每週一公休）

藝術家｜龎銚
 

六月，畫裡薰風自南來　文｜張禮豪

「色彩就像是做菜。廚師多灑或是少放一點鹽巴，都會造成莫大的差異。」
（Color is like cooking. The cook puts in more or less salt, that’s the difference!）── 約瑟夫．亞伯斯 （Josef Albers）

還記得初次造訪的那個午後，仍帶著些許春寒的小雨從空中落下。照著Google Map的指示，從捷運站出來後，會先經過一個大部分攤商已經休息而顯得安靜許多的傳統市場，接著是一段走來絲毫不費力的緩坡，右側一幢超過百年歷史的磚紅色教會建築巍然而立，已然看盡不知多少的人事變幻和滄海桑田。再往前走，一排屋齡接近半個世紀的公寓在歲月的洗禮下或略顯老態，卻依然保有些許無可比擬的時代性格，讓人不禁佇足良久。
 

夜光流注，一目河山銀幻出

龎銚的工作室就座落在這排矮屋其中一間的三樓。雖說如此，一踏進室內就能輕易地嗅聞到與外頭全然有別的氛圍──她為即將到來的個展所準備的大大小小畫作以一種更具生活感的樣貌羅列著，有的是浮雲之間稍縱即逝的日照，在一望無垠的地表投下雄鷹般振翅飛翔的身影，有的則像是倒映在湖面上的粼粼波光，使眼前的一切覆蓋上朦朧似夢的詩意；有的猶如隱沒在大雪紛飛裡依稀只見輪廓的危崖奇巖，有時則幻化為捲起千堆雪的拍岸驚濤，偌大的墨色點染頓成屹立不動的山石……如同隨風而起的蕩漾漣漪，隨著來者腳步的挪移而不斷地折射出迥異的景致。

出身於藝術世家，或許是個性使然，在龎銚的身上看不出一絲一毫因為祖父龎薰琴（1906-1985）、父親龎均（1936-）兩代盛名所帶來的壓力。事實上，在豐厚的家學淵源下，龎銚對於所謂「運墨而五色具」的傳統書畫美學自是毫不陌生；旅美留學的藝術專業背景，也使她對於二次戰後自紐約興起，且至今影響力仍未見消退的抽象表現主義（Abstract Expressionism）及非定形藝術（Art Informel） 等藝術形式同樣知之甚稔。恰是在這兩種美學思想的碰撞與融合下，反倒促使她在藝術創作的發展上，早慧而積極地挖掘一己內在的精神質地，並呈現出深具個人風格的獨特風貌。也正是如此，2004年自美返台至今長達廿年的期間，在繪畫之外，龎銚也嘗試運用包括金屬等諸多媒材創作。然而無論何種媒材，達到純粹的平衡始終是她一貫不變的藝術追求。

象外之象，淡極始知餘韻長

情境、意境或者造境，向來是東方傳統美學的重要課題，意即創作者取材雖多從現實而來，卻不拘泥於此一現實；相反地，往往自出機杼地打破既有的主客與時空關係，運用各種可能的藝術手法使象外之象得以不斷地增生疊加，進而形成一種動與靜、現實與想像之間迂迴反覆的對話，來烘托出個人心靈深處的絮語獨白。故龎銚此次展覽以「薰風自南來」為題，不僅清晰地傳達其在過去兩年的心緒變化，她更巧妙地以二十四節氣為靈感，重新找到與自然連結的途徑。在展出的多數作品中，都能見到她刻意選用黑、白、灰等中性色彩的壓克力顏料，透過迅疾筆觸的反覆塗抹堆疊，建構出時而輕盈時而凝重的畫面主體，隨即在經意或不經意間以金、銀、銅等提色，使得水火風土等充滿變化的自然現象，偶爾也有一些似乎可供辨認指涉的點景物件，不但讓具象與非具象二者的元素得到各自發揮又相互輝映的視覺效果，也隱約地將自然四時流轉放進畫面之中，充分體現了晉孫綽〈遊天台賦〉「渾萬象以冥觀，兀同體於自然」一句的真諦。

一如約瑟夫．亞伯斯所言，在視覺感知中，色彩幾乎從未真正被看見。並置的顏色總是以兩種方式相應而產生變化，一方面與光線有關，另一方面與色調有關。同一種顏色會由於周圍的環境而有所不同，色彩的最終本質只有相互的關係。在幻覺與轉化之間，色彩可以前進、後退、振動甚至是變形，也使得色彩成為藝術創作無從迴避的重要關鍵。然而，龎銚的用意並不是想要避開色彩，而是希望藉此來重新討論色彩，乃至於探索純粹的繪畫語言可以發展到何種境界。她並未採取約瑟夫．亞伯斯的理性極簡構圖，也不侷限於自動性技法的使用、仰賴那些偶現的意外收穫來成就作品，大多時候她更享受在創作過程中與這些最基本的繪畫語言溝通，共同走向一個言說不足以形容的開放敘事想像。

同樣的，乍看龎銚的繪畫作品時，或會讓人聯想到趙無極、朱德群這兩位廿世紀最具代表性的抽象藝術家。實際上，有別於他們多運用高度飽和的色彩與濃烈厚重的筆觸線條來營造出畫面的視覺張力，龎銚更感興趣的或許是她如何窮一己之力以類似信仰的心態，去捕捉自然造化跟創作之間的對應關係，從而帶給觀者淡極方知悠長的餘韻。「你未看此花時，此花與汝同歸於寂；你既來看此花，則此花顏色一時明白起來，便知此花不在你心外。」正如明代大儒王陽明所揭示者，心靈乃是天地萬物之主，而世間一切事物最終其實都是映照我們內在的明鏡；透過龎銚的作品，觀者或許也能體會到生命那縱然會偶爾混亂失序，終究能夠走向平靜的狀態。甚至，閉上眼睛也能看見滿目的筆觸、顏色和細節，進而全然感受到那從畫裡習習吹來的薰風，舒心而暢懷。

 

June, the Breeze from the South.

By｜Chang Li-Hao

"Color is like cooking. The cook puts in more or less salt, that’s the difference!"

– Josef Albers

I still remember that afternoon, with a slight chill of spring rain falling from the sky, was my first visit to Yolanda Pong’s studio. Following the instructions on Google Maps, I came out of the subway station, passed through a quiet traditional market that was already closed for the day, went up a gentle slope that required no effort to climb, saw a century-old, red-bricked church towering on the right, and witnessed countless changes of the people and life here. Moving on, there were a row of apartments approaching half a century in age, slightly worn by the passage of time, yet still retained some incomparable characteristics of the era, making one linger.

The night's glow flowed, the scenery shimmered like silver.

Yolanda's studio is located on the third floor of one of these buildings. But even so, as soon as you step inside, you immediately notice a completely different atmosphere than the outside. She has arranged her paintings of various sizes in a more lifelike manner for the upcoming solo exhibition. Some depict the soaring silhouette of an eagle on the Earth's surface cast by the fleeting sunlight that passes through floating clouds. Others resemble the shimmering waves reflected on the surface of a lake, enveloping everything in a hazy and dreamlike poetic mood. With vast ink-black dots dyeing the mountains and rocks, some are like the hidden cliffs that can only be vaguely seen in the midst of heavy snowfall, while others are like surging waves that roll up into thousands of piles of snow... Like ripples rising with the wind, different landscapes are constantly refracting with the movement of visitors.

Born into an artistic family, but perhaps due to her personality, Yolanda felt no pressure of having such a renowned grandfather, Pang Xunqin (1906 to 1985), or father, Pang Jiun (1936 to present). And because she comes from such a rich family heritage, Yolanda is familiar with the traditional aesthetics of Chinese painting and calligraphy known as “yunmo er wuseju,” the skill of manipulating ink and color. Her art education background from studying abroad in the United States has also made her well-versed in art forms such as Abstract Expressionism or Art Informel, which emerged in New York after World War II and still exerts influence to this day. It is precisely in the collision and fusion of these two aesthetic ideologies that she has actively and astutely explored her own inner spiritual qualities in the development of her artistic creation, presenting a unique personal style. Since her return to Taiwan from the United States in 2004, Yolanda has spent the past twenty years not only painting, but also experimenting with various media including metals. However, regardless of the medium, achieving pure balance has consistently been Yolanda’s artistic pursuit.

Beyond the form lies a subtle lasting resonance.

Setting the scene, capturing the mood, or creating an atmosphere has always been an important theme in Eastern traditional aesthetics. It means that although creators often draw inspiration from reality, they are not confined to it. On the contrary, they often break the established relationships between subject and object or time and space, and use various artistic techniques to continuously generate and layer the beyond form. This forms a dialogue that weaves back and forth between movement and stillness, reality and imagination, enhancing the whispering soliloquy deep within the artist's soul. Therefore, in her exhibition titled “The Breeze from the South,” Yolanda not only conveys her emotional changes over the past two years, but also ingeniously finds a new connection with nature by drawing inspiration from 24 solar systems. In most of her exhibited works, one can see her deliberate use of neutral colors such as black, white, and gray in acrylic paints. Through rapid brushstrokes and repetitive layering, she constructs subjects that are at times light and at times solemn. Then, intentionally or unintentionally, she adds touches of color such as gold, silver, and copper, bringing the ever-changing natural phenomena of water, fire, wind, and earth into the paintings. Occasionally, there are also some identifiable objects that seem to allude to specific scenes. This not only allows the elements of abstraction and representation to play out and complement each other visually, but also subtly incorporates the cycle of the four seasons into the artwork, fully embodying the true essence of Jin Sunuo's “Youtiantai Fu,”: “Contemplate the myriad phenomena as a whole, merging oneself with nature.”

Joseph Albers once said, “In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is—as it physically is.” The juxtaposition of colors always produces variations in two ways: one is related to light, the other to hue. The same color can appear different due to its surrounding environment, and the ultimate nature of color lies in its relationships. Between illusion and transformation, color can move forward, recede, vibrate, and even deform, making it an unavoidable key in artistic creation. However, Yolanda's intention is not to avoid color, but rather to use this opportunity to reexamine color and explore to what extent the pure language of painting can be developed. She does not adopt Joseph Albers’s rational minimalist compositions nor limit herself to the use of automatic techniques. She does not rely on occasional fortuitous gains to progress her works. Most of the time, Pang Yao enjoys communicating with fundamental elements of the language of painting during the creative process, venturing into an open narrative imagination that words cannot describe.

Similarly, at first glance, Yolanda's paintings may bring to mind two of the most representative abstract artists of the 20th century: Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun. However, in contrast to their use of highly saturated colors and intense brushstrokes to create visual tension in their compositions, Yolanda is more interested in using her own efforts to capture the corresponding relationship between nature and creation with a mentality similar to faith. This, in turn, brings a subtle and lasting resonance to the viewer. “When you have not observed the flower, the flower and you are both in silence; once you have observed the flower, then the color of the flower instantly becomes clear, and you realize that this flower is not outside your heart.” As revealed by the Ming Dynasty philosopher Wang Yangming, the mind is the master of all things in the universe, and everything in the world is ultimately a reflection of the inner mirror within us. Through Yolanda's works, viewers may also experience the understanding that life, even though it may occasionally be chaotic and disordered, can ultimately reach a state of tranquility. Even with closed eyes, one can see the strokes, colors, and details, feel the breeze blowing from the painting, and reach a state of tranquility.