GAN CHIN LEE
Studies of Chinese New Villages VII
Watercolour, acrylic, charcoal, marker pen, ink pen, pencil, and colour pencil on note paper
Dimensions variable
2018 - 2023
Today, I know not where these faces went
人面不知何处去
(H)84cm x (W)183cm
Oil on linen
2023
The Foolish Old Man Moves a Mountain
愚公移山
(H)183cm x (W)122cm
Oil on linen
2021-23
New Village Rider
乡村骑士
(H)102cm x (W)77cm
Oil on linen
2023
In these paintings, I aim to depict not an idealised scenic landscape but rather a spiritual landscape of the Chinese diaspora in Chinese New Villages. In my "Studies of Chinese New Villages," created between 2018 and 2022, I undertook the task of organising the historical archives and literature related to Chinese New Villages. They serve as a guide for viewers to understand the racial identity of the Chinese in new villages. In the second phase of this series, I intend to channel the depiction of the spiritual landscape of Chinese New Villages into a treatment akin to genre painting. Coincidentally, one of my references happens to be Bruegel's genre paintings. Additionally, my visual language construction is also influenced by Tianjin Yangliuqing woodblock prints and Japanese ukiyo-e painting. Therefore, I draw inspiration from Chinese cultural customs and beliefs, written language, folk art aesthetics, and combine them with my cultural memories as a descendant of immigrants and images captured on-site. This gradually assembles an obscure and indefinite sense of racial identity and challenge. Furthermore, I attempt to closely examine the political background of the establishment of Chinese New Villages and the impact of multicultural society on my ideological consciousness. In an era marked by the expansion of the Japanese military southward, coupled with the tug-of-war between Malaya, communism, and British colonial forces, I explore how the ethnic identity of overseas Chinese faced recognition and division on the Malay Peninsula. So, as I gaze at these new village landscapes and depict them, my mind melds my interpretation of historical data with my assertions on identity politics. Thus, these landscape paintings are not merely a presentation of optical or poetic aesthetics. In Chinese culture, there is an idiom, "The Foolish Old Man Moves a Mountain," which signifies that even a daunting task like moving a mountain can be overcome through the unremitting efforts of three generations or more. For a long time, Chinese education has been the bottom line for most Malaysian Chinese, a treasure passed down by the older generation, which they fervently advise the descendants to protect. However, over five thousand years of civilisation and the cultural wealth and intellectual essence brought by Chinese immigrants during the late Qing Dynasty have become increasingly pale as they evolve with the changing times, much like the vague memories of communal dining in the Chinese New Villages during emergency period. In this painting, I juxtapose an image of the important Chinese artist Mr. Xu Beihong‘s ’The Foolish Old Man Moves a Mountain‘, to contrast the transformation of the temperament and adaptability of Chinese people in their homeland and in a foreign land. I also attempt to question the future path and destination of the descendants of the ’Foolish Old Man‘. "New Village Rider" is an attempt to restore the image of a character in a place where legal norms are not well established. In the early days of many Chinese immigrant organizations in various countries, aside from roles played by temples, surname associations, and regional organisations in safeguarding their ethnic group, sometimes it was also the ruffians in secret societies who assumed the role of protectors of the community, where In certain Chinese new villages, these three roles may overlap without conflict. “Today, I know not where these faces went”, It is a juxtaposition of the ruins and landscapes of the new village with images from the past, inspired by the experiences of an elder in my family who once followed communism and later severed ties with the family. Confronting this fragmented and incomplete historical memory, I hope to create an uncanny and restless atmosphere to breach the principles of Realism and attain an iconographic style that goes beyond reality
我在这几张绘画中想要表现的并非理想化的美丽风景,而是一种新村华人的精神风景。我在2018-2022年创作的studies of chinese new villages里,完成了对华人新村的历史档案及文献的梳理,他们可以作为指引观者了解新村华人身份和种族认同的入口。而进入这个系列第二阶段的创作,我想要把这些描绘新村华人的精神风景导向一种风俗画的处理(恰巧的是,Brugel的风俗画是我其中一个参照的对象,另外影响我视觉语言构建的还有天津杨柳青年画与日本浮世绘),由此,我将借鉴华人文化习俗与信仰、文字、民间美学,并结合我作为移民后代的文化记忆与实地拍摄的图像,慢慢拼凑出朦胧飘渺不定的种族认同与挑战。 此外,我尝试紧扣住新村成立的政治背景与多元文化社会对我意识形态的影响与树立,那个在日军南下扩张,加上马来亚、共产主义与英殖民势力拉锯的时代背景下,海外华人这个种族身份如何在马来半岛面对的认同与撕裂。所以,当我凝视这些新村景观的并借以描绘之时,脑里其实融和了我对历史资料的消解和身份政治的主张,由此,这些风景画而不仅仅是一种单纯的光学或诗意的美学呈现。 在中华古训里有一句成语叫愚公移山 The Foolish Old Man Moves a Mountain ,寓意是移动一座山这么艰难的事可以借由祖传三代不懈地努力来克服。长久以来,华文教育是大部分大马华人的坚守底线,这是老一辈华人带来的金山,这些愚公们不停劝诫后代的炎黄子孙们必须要极力保护的根。然而五千年文明过于沉重,一并随晚清时期华人南来的文化财产和思想精华,如今仅存民间信仰和文化习俗,他们随着时代更迭而变得越形苍白,如同那段吃新村大锅饭的模糊记忆一样。在此画里,我并置了中国重要艺术家徐悲鸿先生的愚公移山图像,来对比原乡与他乡的两处华人的气质迭变与水土不服,并尝试提问愚公的炎黄子孙们的身份前路与归宿何在? 乡村骑士 New village rider是尝试还原一个在法制不规范的地方人物形象。在早期许多国家的移民华人组织里,扮演族群保护者的角色除了神庙、宗姓与地缘组织外,有时候也可能是私会党里的流氓们。而 这三种角色在部分华人新村里,也可能相互重叠而并不产生矛盾的。 人面不知何处去Today, I know not where these faces went,是并置新村的残垣风景与过往图像的一种联想式呈现,灵感来自家里一名长者曾经追随共产主义而后来断开与家族联系的往事,面对这段残缺而不完整的历史记忆,我希望这能创造出一种奇异而不安宁的氛围,突破现实主义的原则,达到超越现实的图像风格。