Wang Jun 王俊 (b.1974)
Musing Amongst The Trees
Wang Jun blind painting in Guizhou forest
Trees, or forests, have long been central motifs in Wang Jun’s paintings. In his earlier works, they were often obscured by layers of paint, leaving only faint traces behind. Recently, however, the presence of trees has become more prominent and essential in his art.
Over the past five years, Wang Jun has spent countless blue hours sketching and painting in a secluded forest in Guizhou, a rarely visited place marked by the graves of local ethnic communities. After these initial sessions, he paints again with his eyes covered, creating in darkness, and later brings these ‘blind’ paintings back to the studio for further developments. Through this cyclical practice, he explores the relationship between objective reality, subjective perception, and memory. In this intertwining of intention and spontaneity, the concept of ‘sketching’ is revitalized.
Wang Jun views sketching as an encounter that demands a bodily return to the site itself—an immediate, immersive, and performative experience.
In his repeated ventures into the Guizhou forests, the trees for Wang Jun are not merely elements of nature but connective threads linked to his early imagination and misinterpretation of this place. Beyond directly capturing images through the harmony of mind and hand, he opens himself fully, engaging in a direct dialogue and resonance with the land through deep immersion. In an improvised approach, he draws close to the essence of perception, conveying his understanding of the ‘spirit’ and the ‘wild’ within his work.
This practice, akin to action painting, is not merely a method of creation but a means of expressing the rhythm of life itself. His paintings emerge from spiritual introspection, responding to nature’s untamed forces. Just as branches grow unpredictably, his brushstrokes spread freely across the canvas, with rain, fallen leaves, and soil naturally becoming part of the composition. The intertwining, separation, and independent growth of branches within the forest also symbolize his artistic practice: interconnected yet flourishing autonomously. These works are not mere reflections and senses of nature’s forms but are explorations of his own inner freedom—an act of art that challenges inertia.
