Stone; dust on the stone, ink, graphite, pencil, pastel, charcoal on paper

11 × 25 × 7 cm. 4 3/8 × 9 7/8 × 2 3/4 in. （石頭）;74.5 × 138 cm. 29 3/8 × 54 3/8 in. （畫作）

EXHIBITED
22 Aug – 19 Sep 2020, Renaissance: Marina Cruz, Rao Fu, Shi Jin-Hua, Mind Set Art Center, Taipei
28 Aug – 24 Oct 2021, The Rocks Return to Soil Where the Heart Belongs: Shi Jin-Hua Solo Exhibition, Taitung Art Museum, Taitung

PROVENANCE
Mind Set Art Center, Taipei
Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Taipei Mind Set Arts Center and signed by the artist

A Life-long Ceremony Across Generations
A Touching Letter from Shi Jin-Hua to His Father

A brush in hand has long been Shi Jin-Hua's personalized method to describe the seasons of life. As an acclaimed Contemporary performance artist, Shi's battle with diabetes at the age of 17 strongly impacted his perspective on the human body and mindfulness. His routine practice of monitoring his physique, blood sugar and insulin intake gradually expanded to his practice of physical training as a form of artistic and expressive medium. Shi firmly believes repeated action directly correlates with human mindfulness, and enhances a person's will and determination, to which the artist explored and instilled meditative themes in his performances.

In 2021, Shi's artistic practice was revolutionized, as he moved beyond his iconic Pen Walking series, and experimented with his Father's Rock series, as a homage to his father on his ninth year of passing, beginning with a study on his collection of rocks. In particular, Mr Father's Rock #2 is one of the four artworks from this rare and invaluable series, as it pairs his father's physical rocks with Shi's painting. The combination of the two forms emphasize figurative and abstraction, inviting viewers to evaluate the details of natural landscape and particles, and conveys a message of perseverance and celebration of life.

The Nature of Landscape Perpetuates in the Law of Materialism

“In order to narrate my father's story, it is absolute that I introduce rocks and materiality into my practice, as that is the only way I can fully honour my father.”

――Shi Jin-Hua

Rocks, a representative form of nature that encompasses rich geographical history has well known to be a crucial symbol in Chinese historical texts and images. Each idiosyncratic rock became a symbol of rarity, exclusivity and cultural essence. In a collection, collectors are able to envision past majestic landscapes through the crystallization of delicate particles. Upon each admiration and handling of the rocks, each person is able to develop an intimate relationship with nature, of the past, the present, and the future. In Shi Jin-Hua's artistic practice, his vision is transcended into the rocks, allowing properties of nature to describe the connections in life. From a piece of rock, Shi perceives the beauty of nature, the present and the future, and most importantly, an ability to relive the treasured memory between him and his father, throwing rocks and dialogue during younghood.

Through a detailed study of the rock, the complicated process of creating Mr Father's Rock #2 affirms Shi's admiration for his father, as he carefully studied the rock that is invaluable to his father. In comparison to the Pen Walking series, which only utilizes a single pencil or a single stick of oil paint, the Father's Rock series is an elaborative and repetitive process that requires patience and delicacy. First, Shi washes away the dusted surface on the rock, then awaits the murky water to evaporate into powder. During the drying process, the notion of time carved into striations of rock gets transformed into powder, and later be mixed with black ink to create colour gradients. As each rock results in variations, the creating process becomes a ceremonial based activity.

On the surface of Mr Father's Rock #2, the left consists of thick, bold and expressive carvings derived from the intensity of the ink. Negative space on the surface coincides with protrusions of the rock surfaces, implicating years of life on Earth. Each delicate and overlapped striation created by repeated motions results in the imagery of tree roots, a part of a tree that is at its strongest, which contains years of nutrients, and reflects the passing of time. From a parallel view, the composition is also perceived as a cave. Thick lining extends to the furthest, and unveils particles of ash-green minerals. The extent of the minerals also documents the movement of water, as if flowing expansively and endlessly from left to right. On the ink surface, particles of dust remains, and coincidentally create the illusion of porous stone. The addition of foreign particles on the surface adds a surprising factor, as viewers are able to experience a closer relationship with nature. Indeed, the turquoise green seen in the rock collected by Shi's father seamlessly integrates with nature as one, and transcends into emergence of reality and the imaginative.

Between the physical rock and a depiction by Shi, abstraction and figurative coexist and converse. Both translate the artist's understanding of nature, and transcend his love and memory of his father through his strenuous experimentation in painting. The depicted “Father's Rock” is the epitome of personalized thoughts, emotions, and a statement of nature. It entails the cycle of life in the form of nature and brushwork, to which life may pan out as tree roots, containing experiences that will be entangled, twisted, expanded and pulsated with memories. From the interaction between the physical “Father's Rock” and Mr Father' Rock #2, it is unequivocally true that the two generations will continue to engage in private dialogues. Meanwhile, Shi and his father will develop and share precious emotions through every painting created by the artist.

Price estimate:
HKD: 100,000 - 180,000
USD: 12,700 - 22,900

Auction Result:
HKD: 120,000