In the well-known “Baiye”, He Yisha showcases the ceramic work “Jiuge” which has been mindfully created and is a series of watercolor paintings about the “Songs of Chu”. “Jiuge” is the most magnificent and true chapter, which contains a 4 dimensional world including heaven, earth, man and god in the mind of the ancient ancestors, a world logic that we can’t touch today. With her unique and complete view of the world, He Yisha started to reinterpret, and recover the forgotten and hidden information in the form of art, to restore the “Jiuge” to the “world” from the “l(fā)iterature”, so that it is possible to continue the spiritual spectrum which was broken by the ideological spectrum. In these ceramic art works, He Yisha uses the thoughts on installation art to look at the ancient symbol of “ceramic”, taking it as material that contains the ancient Chinese concept of “five elements”, it extracted a more complicated thought which advances the concept of “ceramic” itself. The reason why it is difficult for traditional ceramics to enter the contemporary world is it is always unable to break through the inherent concept of ceramic production; when the ceramic production is solidified as a kind of “virtuosity”, the conceptual density of the original symbolism is slashed, finally the metaphysical “creation” comes down to the tool of secular interest. He Yisha uses a ritualized way to make it change. The ceramic work “Goddess of Mountain” in the exhibition cleverly uses the different texture of pottery and porcelain, so the unprecedented relationship is established between the two materials: although they are both diverted from the earth, pottery implies the boundless nature of the mountains and rivers, while the porcelain implies the holiness of creatures. At the same time, regardless of pottery or porcelain, it removes the details but focuses on its imagery, using ceramic work to connect with the temperament of the Chinese ink painting, it is small but reveals a great world, as if heavy winds hover above the gullies.

From “After Broken” to the “Jiuge”, I can always feel joy in the world created by He Yisha, but this joy is not a simple emotion, but happiness, the pleased and peaceful after a life which is associated with the creator once again. The life cultivation is in order to establish the relationship between the individual and the world, between life and the universe, He Yisha has slowly moved toward the answer thus convincing herself, which is an enlightenment for the viewers.

An excerpt from “He Yisha: By Spirituality to Read the World” by Zhao Zilong

March 3, 2015

About the Exhibition

Title: Jiuge - He Yisha Art Exhibition

Art Director: He Duoling

Curator: Zhao Zilong

Venue: Baiye Art Gallery, Zhaixiangzi Chengdu, Sichuan Province

Duration: March 6 - April 6, 2015

Opening: at 4:30 on March 6, 2015

Courtesy of the artist and Baiye Art Gallery, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO