CHANG LING

2022

Chang Ling's "Portrait of a Woman" employs thick layers of oil paint, with bold and vigorous brushstrokes, presenting a state of unfinished gaze that seems to summon the primal essence of humanity amid struggle and confusion. The indistinct facial features and fragmented bodily contours are not an evasion of technique but rather the disintegration and reconstruction of the subject's consciousness under the pressure of reality. This expressive mode resonates with Bai Shiming's advocacy of the "dialectic of seeing and existence." The artwork is not merely a capture of the visual; it is an excavation of life experiences.

This painting does not discuss "representation," but rather confronts "existence": a woman, a poetic legacy of the flesh. The imagery resembles the remnants of a body, corresponding to Chang Ling's notion of "the remaining reality." Between form and emotion, this work successfully establishes a critical point of viewing and empathy, invoking profound memories intertwined with identity, history, and land.

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