1997. An Hui Fine Arts Publishing. Pp.458-9

By Mei Mosheng

Female artist LIN Wanying (Lina) repeatedly displays the individual tongue of her heart through her sketches of the Hundred States of Life, that is, life is after all the symbol of changing expressions. This 1995 exhibition she presents in China’s Fine Arts Museum, although not on a grand scale, instantly catches the hearts of readers. In fact, people soon start gazing at this artist who has always been self-isolated and has kept great distance from the circle of Beijing’s urban life. In China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts where she had studied, there is no lack of famous figures who highly appreciate her arts.

Touched and inspired from life’s endless expressions, the faces, are not only visible by physical eyes, but also to be realized by spiritual focuses. I am afraid only those who are sensitive of life and have an insight into the social world may fix their artistic subject on this realm of vision.

LIN Wanying’s traces of brushes and pencils have no lack of irony, satire and harmonious teasing. Comparing with the realistic size of portraits these magnified faces are one by one nakedly presented in the hall. She attempts to reveal humans’ dishonesty, slyness, cunning and ignorance etc. She has truly exhibited mankind’s foul and timid insignificance and helpless embarrassment. With her artist’s truthful passion and perception, she absolutely shows no mercy.

Those conscientious individuals may reflect their life in front of her paintings, therefore, silent confession and shameful feelings recalled from the past, quietly grow into the mind. Her criticism is vividly imaged. She is like a moralist, yet without employing language and writings. All the technical skills are uncovered as if under the control and arrangement of expression’s needs.

Her art possesses an extremely inward reflective quality.

From her pictures, we can experience the richness, complex and rigidity of her art and life steps.

I consider her pictures insufficiently exquisite and immature, however, I genuinely regard her as a great Master to be.

1995 June

LIN Wanying perceives sharply and conceives diligently, often possessing uniquely artistic thoughts. Going to Hua Mountain to practise arts from nature, everybody is deeply keen to enjoy mountains and rivers, select views and discover artful compositions from the extraodinary peaks. Sketch-pads are full of life sources. Her sketch-folders, without showing any Hua Mountain’s perilous peaks and wonderful scenes, instead, are completed by all the portraits of humans inspired from cliffs, gullies, dry woods and perilous rocks. LIN Wanying says, she often figures out various human features from daily encounters of surroundings. Either a piece of fabric or some leaking marks drives her imagination over and over with passionate feeling. Drawing at her fingertips is enough to initiate her composing passion, unconsciously, she puts all kinds of her experience, feelings, love and hate, sour-sweet-bitter-hot tastes, beautiful-ugly-good-evil judgment into constructing humans’ characteristics. The accumulation of years becomes the Hundred State of Life.

The Hundred State of Life is black-white distinguished and uniquely structured. Those weird images are so exaggerated, alternative, symbolized and surrealistic that your heartbeat immediately races away. The penetrating descriptions of the psychological states strongly stimulate your sense organs and constantly shake you soul.

At this moment, as if you can see that an innocent girl relying on her pure and simple sense dissects secular people’s minds with a sharp dissecting-knife. Under the pure and truthful gaze, all the portraits are so contrasting and very distinct: kind-hearted nature, fabricated and performed goodness, firm willingness, sophisticated social experience, surly character, calm mind, dark psychological state, etc.

The pure, warm and fragile heart with sharp and profound analysis has made a full screen of human existence. All the beautiful and ugly, the good and evil appear in front of people. This motivates people to reflect, think over and philosophize about life and society.

The Hundred States of Life embodies mankind’s expectation and love toward ethical nature, the compassion and understanding toward weakness and loneliness and the criticism and rejection toward dishonesty and wickedness.

Deeply enjoying it, you can discover the artist’s unique angle. In this boundless universe, things like green willow and red flowers make up a colorful kingdom. LIN Wanying choosing merely black and white attempts to use the simplest language to transmit the richest insight.

The spirits of entire nature are graceful and charming with hundreds and thousands of features and appearances. LIN Wanying merely concentrates her views to the expressions of head portraits, striving to express the deepest spiritual world from simple objects and subjects.

Deeply enjoying it, you can also perceive the special beauty of sketch art’s techniques. There is the strength of the form and structure and the force behind the outlines.

Tracing the artist’s drawing methods of squeezing, rubbing, scribbling etc., the brush is wielded so free and easy, you can more over feel the artist’s free and calm mind, feel the artist’s throwing herself into her art so strongly. Following the artist’s voice of describing life and world with resentment, love and hate, audiences can receive the aesthetic enjoyment as well.

Within the square inches, the Hundred States of Life is completed. Solely a piece of charcoal pencil tells the secular tales of the human world.

I like young female artist LIN Wanying’s drawings. I hope that she regards this exhibition’s success as merely the beginning of her career.

24^th April 1995