Qin Feng

Qin Feng is internationally known by his rebellious and radical behaviour as he strive to revitalise the tradition of Chinese ink painting and calligraphy so that it can be related to and relevant to today’s globalized art society. Qin was born in Xingjiang Province which has borders with eight countries including Afghanistan, Russia and India. Hence, he lived within a melting pot of rich cultural currents. This affects Qin to try to craft a pictorial language that expresses a world that anyone from anywhere can recognize and understand. The name Feng (风) which he gave himself means wind. It is obvious he has sought to break linguistic and cultural boundaries with his bold pictorial wind-like works.

“Brush, ink and paper are only mediums; they should not be viewed as definitional marks that separate/differentiate Eastern art forms from their Western counterparts. My approach to such conventional Eastern and Western expressive languages and media as ink, paper, oil, tea and coffee on canvas is to interchange and mix them so as to challenge and destabilize the ideas of boundaries and traditions.” Qin Feng, Ink: The art of China

By soaking his papers with coffee and tea, the surface turns from stark white to golden brown. Using coffee and tea as his materials also hints to unifying cultures as these two beverages that were once grouped as East and West, are now consumed across countries. Qin engages audience in various ways whether it is performance of him sweeping ink on a surface or presenting paintings on hanging scroll or accordion-folded screen with scale larger than human. It is always overwhelming to stand in front of Qin’s finely executed empirical beauty of gestural brushwork. Qin Feng’s works are an invitation to join him into a wordless communication and cultural union.

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