Landscape painter Ma Hong is deeply attached to rural, rugged
North China where he grew up. He roams the countryside and his
gentle, tranquil works convey his love for the land.
For more than a thousand years, Chinese landscape paintings have
been a symbol of nature and a way of expressing emotions.
Ma Hong, a northern Chinese oil painter born in 1959, expresses
the tranquillity of the rugged landscape in his native Hebei Province. The low-contrast, earth-tone
paintings are soft and gentle in feeling.
Ma, who comes from Chengde, is exhibiting more than 30 of his
latest works at the Liu Haisu Arts Museum. They capture the quiet
of rural towns in Taihang Mountain, seen from afar, the sunlight on
trees, rivers and fields, with mountains rising in the
background.
In focusing on ordinary rural landscapes, not emotional,
breathtaking vistas, Ma conveys his deep affection for the scenery.
For him, beautiful scenery is not the most important thing - what
he really cares about is his emotional connection with the
land.
"I only paint something that I am extremely familiar with, like
my hometown where I spent all my life," says the artist.
Carrying his pigments, bushes and canvas, Ma explores some of
the most remote areas of his home province. He travels as the
spirit moves him, and paints what strikes his heart.
Some viewers may say the scenes have a sameness to them, without
prominent features. Ma seldom uses bright color, as he wants to
present the scenery "the way it is."
"I found my heart was quiet when I was painting landscapes,"
says Ma, whose latest paintings were all created in the Taihang
Mountain area from 2002 to 2006.
He travels to the same area at different seasons of the year to
capture different aspects of the scenery and different
emotions.
He was inspired one golden autumn afternoon as he was walking.
Rays of sunshine pierced the shade and Ma was suddenly touched by
the scenery, by the place where he has spent his entire life.
"That was where I got the inspiration for the landscape series.
It was a feeling," says Ma. "What I am doing is expressing the
emotion through my touch on the canvas."
(Shanghai Daily November 1, 2007)