tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010494928772077300.post1430454399867275304..comments2024-03-01T14:26:39.432+01:00Comments on Sophia's Mirror: Six PersimmonsEmmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344595922514131573noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010494928772077300.post-86340149773811187472020-05-17T17:10:06.710+02:002020-05-17T17:10:06.710+02:00After many many viewings of this painting through ...After many many viewings of this painting through the years (online) and my own attempts to copy 6 Persimmons, I feel that Mu Qi simply and profoundly expressed the great mystery and wonder of existence.Roy Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00010504458222589316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010494928772077300.post-37905825000506300562013-10-27T11:47:11.270+01:002013-10-27T11:47:11.270+01:00Thank you for such an erudite comment, Joseph, and...Thank you for such an erudite comment, Joseph, and I am delighted that you clearly enjoy this painting as much as I do! The phrase you choose - that the medium of pen and ink is 'unforgiving' - is very apt. Mu Qi's absolute confidence of line suggests that he was in a meditative state before executing the work: his own mind was clear and still, and poised for the unconscious to conscious creative movement, which is exactly what his painting portrays. <br /><br />Your further comments about the empty space of the composition also make clear that there are different kinds of 'emptiness'. The space in the painting is not a negative emptiness, but an active state, full of creative potential. This simple quality is what to me connects Mu Qi's masterpiece to the cosmic. to the creative potential of all things, and the 'Sophia's Mirror' from which these things emerge. Hawkwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07993700120131916459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010494928772077300.post-30841313598220457672013-10-26T01:02:47.534+02:002013-10-26T01:02:47.534+02:00When I view this painting of the six persimmons I ...When I view this painting of the six persimmons I am struck by two aspects. The first aspect is the natural simplicity of the lines depicting the varying qualities of the persimmons. This simplicity may appear easy but in fact is quite difficult to master. These brushstrokes are akin to calligraphy. To many practitioners of Chinese calligraphy it is believed that the artist’s inner character and spirit is reflected in every stroke and nuance of the brush. If there are any mental or emotional ripples they are revealed in the brush strokes. This medium is unforgiving as there are no means of erasing or covering up an unwanted stroke. Hence to achieve this level of natural simplicity requires much more than a high degree of technical or even artistic expertise. It requires deep inner stillness. I feel this inner stillness expressed in the painting. David points out the gradation or depth of colour of the persimmons from the “no colour” of the outer persimmons to the grey tones of the middle ones and finally the dark black of the single centre one. He asks us to see the inherent circular movement from the un-manifested formlessness to the manifested dimension of form, and the return movement back to formlessness.“ Those six simple pieces of fruit portray nothing less than the actual act of creation.” <br /><br />Emptiness, or clear space, is the other aspect that this painting brings attention to. Most of the painting is indeed empty space! The emptiness is not the emptiness of desolation, but expresses the limitless and unconditioned essence that is within creation. It is that which cannot be defined or described. It is the underlying background oneness from which all forms of creation arise and eventually dissolve into. Thank you greatly David for sharing this beautiful and timeless work of art and expression of spirit by Mu Qi, and for your truly insightful and perceptive comments.<br />Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08209551489584694322noreply@blogger.com