蘭花在檳城比較普遍被稱為胡姬花。其品種繁多，花朵各種顏色和造型，深受養花人的喜愛。檳城植物園有一年一度的胡姬花展，今年我選購了幾株簡單易養的掛於家中陽台做寫生題材。
本系列乃應HIKAYAT書店之邀，為其展覽空間舉辦小型個展而創作。展出作品只有七幅，但均為我喜愛的誠意之作！這系列我選用了深仿古色熟宣創作，因紙的底色較能襯托出蘭花顏色，尤其是帶白色的花。我先將紙局部噴濕，以油畫刀刮水溶石墨用寫意手法先處理背景肌理，之後再決定佈局何種蘭花。最後呈現的是背景抽象及植物寫實結合的畫面。畫面可見我慣用的書法線條和留白空間，借鑒東方水墨精神。
此小展覽適逢2023農曆新年，就以蘭花祝福各位「如沐春風，神清氣爽」。
This small Orchid Series exhibition is part of a much larger and ongoing body of work derived from my longstanding interest in flowers and plants, in botanics and nature.
Comprising over a tenth of all the world’s flowering plants, the orchid family (Orchidaceae) is one of the world’s largest plant families. Orchids are identifiable by their bilaterally symmetrical flowers, with the lip being their most prominent characteristic. Almost every region is home to a unique collection of orchids, adapted to the specific environments they grow in. Orchid diversity is especially high in the tropics and Peninsular Malaysia is no exception, with about a thousand species. In a 2017 tally, at least 144 species were recorded on Penang Hill, while the Penang Botanic Gardens hosts an annual orchid exhibition.
This year, I bought a few simple and easy-to-grow orchids and hung them on the balcony of my home for sketching. This series is my initial artistic response to these exquisite flowers. Although there are only seven works on display, they all resonate deeply within me.
For this series, I chose a deep antique tone for the paper since this helps highlight the colours of the orchids, and especially the white flower. I lightly dampened the paper, then scraped the water-soluble graphite with an oil painting knife, and used a freehand technique to deal with the background texture first. I then decided what kind of orchids to lay out. The final result is a mixture of background abstraction – the empty or negative space – and botanical realism. Overall, the calligraphic lines and empty space comprise one of my signature styles, drawing on the spirit of Chinese ink painting.
This small exhibition coincides with the 2023 Lunar New Year. The orchids represent a greeting to everyone – ‘like a spring breeze, refreshed and refreshed’.
Title: Orchid Series
First edition: 2023
Format: 210 x 180 mm / PDF e-catalogue
Pages: 22
View in eBook.
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