楊世芝
Yang Shih-chih b. 1949
關於
楊世芝舉中國傳統的醫療觀為例，指出身體是一個自成宇宙的生命整體；並以中國書法為類比，說明從一個字的筆劃到行氣的對應關係，乃至於通篇書寫的完成，就是從局部的小整體到全部的大整體的美學。藉助於中國傳統的身體觀和藝術觀，楊世芝創作的形式也在1990年代末期出現極大的轉變。
她具體建立了一套結合塗鴉與拼貼的繪畫工序，甚至告別了油畫與壓克力作品。改以水墨媒材創作，她在宣紙或棉紙上恣意揮灑筆墨及用色；有時，也在相同的紙本畫面上，混搭鉛筆、水溶性碳筆、蠟筆等各種線條。
塗鴉是為了解放心、手的控制而作，本身不帶意圖，無具體目的，不為概念而存在；所以，談不上完成與否。楊世芝指出，經過兩三個星期的累積，她將一張張塗鴉翻面過來，以剪刀恣意裁剪出大小不等且形狀各異的碎片。面對擺在眼前的空白畫布，她估量著如何從滿地的斷簡殘篇，揀選出某個偶合於刻下心思或念頭的片段，將筆墨拼貼上去。
楊世芝的拼貼是一個反覆琢磨，持續修改、覆蓋、增疊的過程。儘管應該存在無限多的形式可能，但究竟是什麼樣的美感根源、意識運作，或是文化深層結構，引導了她的畫面構成？2004年迄今，山水、樹石、花卉之類的大地意象聯想，一直都在她畫中明顯可見。不難推估，潛藏在她「整體觀」創作美學背後的重要精神動機，就是回歸她自身所屬的文化根源。
楊世芝改以個人內在靈視為造景之源，非物質性的精神空間成為美學追求。重訪書畫和水墨藝術傳統，她似乎更希望從現代與當代創作的視野，增益水墨的表現方式。解構之後的再構，不是為了折衷或修正，而是建立適情適性，合適於表達自己，同時又能與傳統橋接的創作新徑。
正如「整體觀」注重的是一種生態的有機性，強調連貫的循環，現代與當代的藝術家應當也能從傳統擷取養分，厚植自身的文化涵養與審美底蘊。很明顯地，楊世芝與傳統重新建立關係以後，反而更能遊刃有餘地另闢蹊徑，以獨創的新法表達個人的藝術詩學。
As an example, Yang Shih-chih cited traditional Chinese medicine’s view of the body as a living whole forming its own universe. She also drew an analogy with Chinese calligraphy, describing the corresponding relationship between the brushstrokes that formed a character and the calligrapher’s vital energy, averring that the completion of an entire work of calligraphy was an aesthetic act moving from the small wholeness of individual parts to the greater wholeness of the whole. Aided by the traditional Chinese view of the body and art, the form of Yang Shih-chih’s art underwent a tremendous shift in the late 1990s.
She specifically developed a set of painting procedures combining doodling and collage, even bidding farewell to oil and acrylic. Turning to ink as the medium for her art, she would brush the ink or apply color on either xuan or cotton paper with unrestrained movements. Sometimes on the same piece of paper she would mix lines drawn with different materials, such as her customary pencils, or water-soluble charcoal pens or crayons.
Doodling serves to release control of the mind and the hand. It does not have its own will or concrete objective. It does not exist for the sake of any concept. Yang Shih-chih relates that after amassing doodles for two or three weeks, she would turn numerous pages upside down and cut out fragments of various sizes and shapes with scissors. Facing the blank canvas in front of her, she would ponder how to select the fragments spread all over the floor to form a section that corresponded with the thoughts engraved in her mind, then piece those brushstrokes together into a collage.
Yang Shih-chih’s collages are a process of repeated honing and continual modification, overlaying and overlapping. Even though an infinite number of possible forms should exist, what aesthetic roots, operations of the consciousness or deep cultural structures ultimately guide the compositions of her images? From 2004 to the present day, images stirring associations with the earth, such as landscapes, trees, rocks or flowers, have always been clearly visible in her paintings.
Instead drew from her personal inner spirit as the source of her scenery, immaterial spiritual spaces have become the aesthetic pursuit of her latter-period art. Revisiting the tradition of calligraphy and ink painting, she seems to be trying to amplify the expressive methods of ink by accessing the vision of modern and contemporary art. Her acts of deconstruction and reconstruction are not done in order to be eclectic or to correct an error, but to build a true expression of her feelings and personality, to aptly express herself, to forge a bridge with tradition that leads to a new creative path.
Just as her “holistic view” focuses on an organic state present in nature, emphasizing an interconnected cycle, so a modern and contemporary artist should be able to extract nourishment from tradition to cultivate her own cultural sustenance and aesthetic foundation. Quite clearly, after establishing a new connection with tradition, Yang Shih-chih has in fact been able to carve out a new trail with skill and ease, discovering a uniquely creative way to express her own poetics of art.