他以簡繁對立、黑白交織的形式,創造出一種既熟悉又陌生的視覺體驗,展現出水墨畫的無限可能性。
蔡名璨,國立臺灣藝術大學書畫藝術學系畢業(2020),目前於國立臺灣藝術大學書畫藝術學系研究所就讀中。他的水墨畫以趣味新穎為特色,以紮實的傳統水墨筆法畫出活潑生動的動物水墨,並以中國明代傢俱為背景,幻想活靈活現的動物們在這些傢俱上或周圍玩動的場景。
蔡名璨的宇宙觀之一是:「世界是由振動所構成的,並且在同一個環境中並置著不同的時空。」在他的觀念中,某空間在人們世界中所存在的一張椅子,同時在同樣位置,不同的波動下存在於另一個世界,這個「另一個世界」可能存在著諸多不同的生物。蔡名璨以旁觀者的身份,觀察並想像這兩個世界的相遇和互動。透過「傢俱」這個充滿人們日常生活中的物品,蔡名璨把可能在別的世界中的動物、神獸與我們的現實連結在一起。並透過在同一張畫裏以不同寫實程度的畫法來描繪動物、傢俱、擺件與背景,進而呈現出不同世界與現實的交匯。
為表達這種兩個世界交融,虛實之間的存在,蔡名璨以15-20次的水墨乾濕暈染為他的動物、神獸做出渾圓、虛虛實實的輪廓線,呈現於畫中世界。與中國古代出名的動物水墨家,易元吉(宋)筆下的猿猴、貓兒相比,蔡名璨的動物保有易元吉的飽滿與靈動但卻更上一層樓,將動物的五官簡化,呈現出更加生動有趣的表情,而輪廓也做出更明顯的暈染,使之與背景所示意的世界交融感更為明顯。且透過筆畫簡單、大氣地繪出的傢俱與精緻的擺件,提供了動物們更多互動的空間,增添了更多不同動作的可能性,拉高了整體的趣味性,讓人一看再看,極其耐人尋味。蔡名璨也時常以「畫中畫」的概念作畫,動物與神獸從畫中的捲軸浮現,來動捲軸外的畫中世界,將觀看者置入三個現實中品畫。真真正正地玩賞所謂的認知感。
蔡名璨追求「一虛一實,有無相生」,力求以「簡繁」、「黑白」、「暈漲和平塗」、「線性構成和色塊的面」等對立來呈現完整和水墨畫中的中庸之道。在創作中他努力呈現「是與不是」和「似與不似」的狀態,意圖進入水墨的幻象空間,建構出遷想妙得的意境。他以簡繁對立、黑白交織的形式,創造出一種既熟悉又陌生的視覺體驗,展現出水墨畫的無限可能性。蔡名璨的作品在台灣諸多地區與美術館多次展出,他的創作融合了傳統技法和當代元素,不斷挑戰和突破傳統界限,為當代水墨畫注入新的生命與活力。
Tsai Ming Tsan graduated from the Department of Painting and Calligraphy Arts at the National Taiwan University of Arts in 2020 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in the same department. His ink paintings are characterized by their novelty and playfulness, depicting lively and vivid animals using solid traditional ink techniques, with the backdrop of Ming Dynasty Chinese furniture. He imagines these spirited animals interacting and playing on or around the furniture.
One of Tsai Ming Tsan’s world views is: “The world is composed of vibrations, and different time-spaces coexist within the same environment.” In his perspective, a chair that exists in our world might, under different vibrations, simultaneously exist in another world at the same location. This “other world” might be inhabited by various creatures. Tsai Ming Tsan observes and imagines the encounters and interactions between these two worlds from an observer’s standpoint. By using “furniture,” an everyday object, he connects animals and mythical creatures from another world to our reality. Within the same painting, he often varies the degree of realism for different things. His animals are stylistic but the ornaments they play with are more realistic. By juxtaposing levels of realism, Tsai Ming Tsan emphasizes the intersection of different realities.
To express the fusion of two or more worlds intersecting and the existence between illusion and reality, Tsai Ming Tsan uses 15-20 layers of wet and dry ink washes to create the rounded, semi-real outlines of his creatures. Compared to the famous Song Dynasty animal ink painter Yi Yuanji, known for his vivid monkeys and cats, Tsai Ming Tsan’s animals retain Yi’s fullness and dynamism but take it to a higher level. He simplifies the animals’ facial features, giving them more expressive and interesting expressions, and uses more pronounced ink washes to blend the contours with the background, enhancing the sense of fusion between different worlds. His simple yet bold strokes for furniture, combined with intricate ornaments, provide more interactive spaces for the animals, increasing the overall playfulness and making the paintings intriguing and captivating. Tsai Ming Tsan often employs the “painting within a painting” concept, where animals and mythical creatures emerge from scrolls within the painting to interact with the outside world, placing the viewer within three layers of reality.
Tsai Ming Tsan strives for the overarching binaries of “real and unreal,” “existence and non-existence” through smaller and tangible binaries such as “simplicity and complexity,” “black and white,” “blurring and flat coloring,” and “linear composition and color blocks.” In his work, he enters the illusory space of ink painting and constructs a realm of imaginative beauty. His use of contrasts creates a visual experience that is both familiar and strange, demonstrating the limitless possibilities of ink painting. Tsai Ming Tsan’s works have been exhibited in various regions and museums in Taiwan. His creations blend traditional techniques with contemporary elements, constantly challenging and breaking traditional boundaries, injecting new life and imbuing vitality into contemporary ink painting.