Silent Flying Flower

Pan Wenxun
1976 Born in Zhejiang Province
2010 Ph.D China Academy of Fine Art, Hangzhou
Currently works in China Academy of Fine Art, Associate professor

The viewers who know even a little bit of traditional Chinese painting would notice at the first sight the connection between Pan Wenxun’s work with the Dunhuang Art, and then identify the young female artist as a member of the art school that values vintage and the inheritance of tradition.
It is true that the Buddhist statues and paintings of the Jin and Tang dynasties represented by the Mogao Grottoes are an important inspiration for Pan’s artistic creation. Though admitting her personal affection and absorption of these traditional cultural resources, Pan has gone far beyond admiration and imitation of these ancient classics in her own painting.
Since the artistic value of the Dunhuang Art was re-recognized in the beginning of the 20th century, the Buddhist art created by the ingenious ancient artists and craftsmen has been es tablished as another important Chinese painting tradition equal to the literati painting school. It has exerted an inevitable influence on almost every ink wash painter. But the influence, or the artists’ voluntary absorption, to put it differently, is displayed in an extremely diverse way, with the reference of lines, strokes or images as the most common reflection. In Pan’s paintings nevertheless, we can not only discern the artist’s mastery of traditional painting skills from her elegant curved lines and freely flowing strokes, but also sense the mystery and solemnity of that ancient age based on the serene and poised characters with blurry gender identities, thus entering the pure and peaceful spiritual world built by the artist.
Pan’s study and understanding of tradition is comprehensive and in-depth, which transcends the level of images and techniques and goes right to the essence of traditional painting. What is more valuable is that, instead of being confined by rules or principles set up by ancient artists, Pan has combined the merits of the two important painting traditions of Chinese painting by maintaining the vividness of colored folk drawing, and meanwhile, conveying the elegance and nobility of the literati painting. In a seemingly nostalgic form, the artist tries to present her individuality and the spirit of contemporary people.
Pan’s artistic creation has gone through continuous changes in recent years as her own life changes and develops. Compared to the spirituality-centered creation at the early stage, Pan’s recent works are more secular. The series based on images of toddlers in particular, still pure and spiritual, conveys a sense of warmth, like the smiley eyes of mother. Pan is indeed a new mum, and the subtle change of the temperament of her works is a testimony to the changed sentiments of the artist. Pan never seeks to convey the influence of reality or avant-garde ideas, which gives her works a sense of perpetuity. It is such a quality that enables her creation to transcend time, space and context, and endows it with the value of long-lasting existence.
—Chen Lin