Xinsheng Li
Basic information
b. 1965, Kiina
Visual artist, Painter and Chinese calligrapher, Chinese painting and - calligraphy teacher
Residence: Espoo
Contact information
Email: xinshenglee@hotmail.com
Artist’s Statement
I am a native Chinese artist and obtained my Master of Fine Arts in China. Peace and harmony are the hallmarks of my works and spring from my soul. I have peace with nature and freedom from the shackles of society. My spirit has deepened into mountains, streams and other natural phenomena.
In my paintings, I strive to create a utopia of life that shines in the miraculous light of fairy tales. The dust of the heart is wiped clean in this light. We cannot change the objective world, but we can change our attitude towards it. With enchanting colors, I create a world that is not just landscape and flower-bird paintings, but a spiritual home full of metaphysics and reflection on life. In the era of materialistic desires, my works are above the joys and sorrows of everyday life.
I have immersed myself in my own world of landscapes, flowers and birds and devoted myself to studying Chinese and Western paintings, philosophical and cultural ideas. I combine these together to create my own artistic way of doing things.
This world of landscapes, flowers and birds is a safe haven for my soul and a dojo for my cultivaion. Sky and earth, mountains and rivers, sun and moon, snow and rain, wind and flowers are all tools of my spiritual development. My subjects come from earthly landscapes, but my paintings are beyond earthly landscapes.
A poem by Chinese Eastern Jin Dynasty poet Tao Yuanming says:
I built my house in the middle of the village,
still there is no noise of carriages, no neighing of horses.
You ask: how is that possible?
He whose heart is far away is also far from here.
It's hard for us to find southern mountains where we can pick chrysanthemums, but my paintings offer an opportunity for a hermit's life. Every moment can be wonderfully enlightened. The song of birds in the morning, the return of crows at dusk, the splendor of spring flowers, the lightness of summer clouds, the falling leaves in autumn, the clear snow in winter; every flower, every tree, every moment of life brings us insights and touches us.
I think that we have to find depth in art. There is more to see than just colors, shapes and their combinations. I try to capture the spirit found in my soul, my experiences, my thoughts and my feelings. My work is the finished writing of an image.
Before the brush touches the rice paper, I have peace in my soul and some image. When I work, I bring out my image using certain brushstrokes.
When my image is painted without allowing anything irrelevant to come in, at that moment I stop. There is vigor and vitality in the picture because there is a living image behind it. It's like reading a good piece of poetry; the words run out, but the impression remains like the scent of fine tea.
Since my study background is in traditional Chinese painting, I also have to understand how deep the art's roots are in the culture. In China, the three most respected art forms are calligraphy, painting and poetry.
Painting and calligraphy are closely related. I started practicing writing Chinese calligraphy and reading poetry as a small child. My works get their spirit and rhythm from Chinese poetry, their technique from calligraphy.
When I paint, I don't just think about how the brush moves in my hand, I listen to the sound of my soul.
In my paintings, I strive to create a utopia of life that shines in the miraculous light of fairy tales. The dust of the heart is wiped clean in this light. We cannot change the objective world, but we can change our attitude towards it. With enchanting colors, I create a world that is not just landscape and flower-bird paintings, but a spiritual home full of metaphysics and reflection on life. In the era of materialistic desires, my works are above the joys and sorrows of everyday life.
I have immersed myself in my own world of landscapes, flowers and birds and devoted myself to studying Chinese and Western paintings, philosophical and cultural ideas. I combine these together to create my own artistic way of doing things.
This world of landscapes, flowers and birds is a safe haven for my soul and a dojo for my cultivaion. Sky and earth, mountains and rivers, sun and moon, snow and rain, wind and flowers are all tools of my spiritual development. My subjects come from earthly landscapes, but my paintings are beyond earthly landscapes.
A poem by Chinese Eastern Jin Dynasty poet Tao Yuanming says:
I built my house in the middle of the village,
still there is no noise of carriages, no neighing of horses.
You ask: how is that possible?
He whose heart is far away is also far from here.
It's hard for us to find southern mountains where we can pick chrysanthemums, but my paintings offer an opportunity for a hermit's life. Every moment can be wonderfully enlightened. The song of birds in the morning, the return of crows at dusk, the splendor of spring flowers, the lightness of summer clouds, the falling leaves in autumn, the clear snow in winter; every flower, every tree, every moment of life brings us insights and touches us.
I think that we have to find depth in art. There is more to see than just colors, shapes and their combinations. I try to capture the spirit found in my soul, my experiences, my thoughts and my feelings. My work is the finished writing of an image.
Before the brush touches the rice paper, I have peace in my soul and some image. When I work, I bring out my image using certain brushstrokes.
When my image is painted without allowing anything irrelevant to come in, at that moment I stop. There is vigor and vitality in the picture because there is a living image behind it. It's like reading a good piece of poetry; the words run out, but the impression remains like the scent of fine tea.
Since my study background is in traditional Chinese painting, I also have to understand how deep the art's roots are in the culture. In China, the three most respected art forms are calligraphy, painting and poetry.
Painting and calligraphy are closely related. I started practicing writing Chinese calligraphy and reading poetry as a small child. My works get their spirit and rhythm from Chinese poetry, their technique from calligraphy.
When I paint, I don't just think about how the brush moves in my hand, I listen to the sound of my soul.
