Artist：Song Yuhui
Medium：Ink and color on paper
Szie： 122cm(H) x 75cm(W)
Mysterious Tibet
This painting "Mysterious Tibet" by Song Yuhui uses a theatrical composition to perfectly integrate Tibetan cultural objects and totems. It combines Tibetan figures, architecture, animals and religion in a surrealist way. It is colourful and bright; the content is mysterious and far-reaching.
The artist has liked watching movies since he was a child. He especially likes how the theatre goes dark and silent before the show starts, making the viewers focus their attention on the screen. He hopes that his work could also be seen in such a theatrical way, capturing the eyes and the minds of the viewers. The characters and animals in this painting look at different directions, which expands the physical size of the work.
There are two horses occupying important positions. Horses have a unique status in the life of Tibetan people, they also have a profound imprint in Tibetan Buddhism. They are considered to be the sacred beings for humans to communicate with ancestral spirits. The horse has become one of the totems that they worship. The eagle at the top centre is also of great significance. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is believed that sky burial is in line with the essence of "cut meat and feed the tiger" as described in the biography of Sakyamuni; and the soul of the dead can also ascend to heaven with the eagles. The child wearing traditional Tibetan clothing in the foreground, symbolizes the hope to pass on their cultural heritage.
This work is a wonderful and dramatic juxtaposition of the classic elements in Tibetan culture, making the viewers to stop and look at it for a long time, and feeling its enduring aftertaste.
