「祇園精舎の鐘の聲、諸行無常の響あり。沙羅雙樹の花の色、盛者必衰の理をあらはす。」-《平家物語》第一卷。

「栄枯盛衰（えいこせいすい）」一詞靈感源於日本百年經典《平家物語》，無常的鐘聲與凋零的樹花在開篇牽引著生命的起伏與自然的更替，堉泉本次以四字為題，透過詩意筆觸縱情於山水、雲霧、花卉枝幹之間，再現生死、繁榮與衰退的流動圖景，轉化自然為生命本質的窺探窗口。

堉泉擅糅合東西方藝術語言，經過長年對於繪畫媒材的探索，使水墨與油彩重生於畫布，筆法靈動自由並在韻律中流露變化之美，使自然潺潺於時間長河，築構出獨特的藝術張力。本次展覽相比過往系列作品，堉泉透過大面積留白與低飽和色塊處理生命中那些無法預測的未知，這些留白空間在畫面中常表現為虛無的天空、靜止的湖泊或大片未填滿的畫布，使觀者陷入未覺察之深思，這種虛實相生的構圖手法，不僅是中國傳統繪畫中的典型手法，也是東方哲學中「無」的象徵，藝術家以留白，為生命的無常與不確定性留下影跡，也透露其對未知的敬畏與尊重。堉泉亦於本次展覽帶來小幅寫生紙上作品，該系列作品完成於日本石神井公園，為藝術家旅遊時的隨身創作。因為是與自然併肩的繪畫方式，堉泉認為寫生是藝術家之於自然的最真實呈現，「時間性亦是寫生的框架與解放」堉泉如此說道，在時間的框架下，光線流變景觀、景觀流變觀者、而觀者流變繪畫，使繪畫受時間困囿，卻又在困囿之中解放。

本次展覽以榮枯盛衰為題，面對無常與不可控的，堉泉回應了一種超越榮枯的哲思——在接受變化的同時，也追尋著內在秩序與靜謐之境，唯有理解並擁抱這種無常，才能在生命的波動中找到屬於自己的和諧與寧靜。從2019的《逐一》、2020《破我執》，2021《為白》、 2022《生生》、2023《止觀》，2024《生如夏花》，堉泉繼續以沉靜筆調描繪生命中的孤寂與思索，引領觀者於無常之中看見亙古，並在人生長河的起伏之間尋得內心平和。

“The Jetavana Temple bells
ring the passing of all things.
Twinned sal trees, white in full flower,
declare the great man’s certain fall.”
—The Tale of the Heike, Book One

The phrase “Eikō seisui” (栄枯盛衰)—“wax and wane”—is inspired by the centuries-old Japanese epic The Tale of the Heike, which opens with the tolling of temple bells and the fading of blossoms, encapsulating life’s vicissitudes and nature’s ceaseless turning. It is with this sensibility that Yu Chuan names this exhibition, allowing himself to indulge in nature, with his brush roaming freely through mountains, mists, and blossoms. His landscapes become flowing representations of vitality and transience, transforming nature itself into a window onto the essence of life.
Blending Eastern and Western artistic idioms, Yu Chuan has spent years experimenting with materials, revitalizing the language of ink and oil on canvas. Each of his brushstrokes pulses with a life of its own, revealing a beauty of its kind, in swinging rhythm and tone. Nature, in his hands, moves as a current across time, generating a distinctive tension that anchors his works.
Compared to earlier series, Yu Chuan embraces the unforeseeable in this exhibition with expansive voids and desaturated color patches. These broad swathes of blankness suggest what cannot be grasped or named—empty skies, still waters, or vast, unpainted canvas— inviting the viewer into an unguarded state of contemplation. The interplay of presence and absence recalls not only a hallmark of classical Chinese painting composition but also the philosophical notion of Wú (無)—an emptiness that tolerates and embraces. Through these voided spaces, Yu Chuan evokes the uncertainty of all things, the awe before the uncontrollable, and a deep respect for the unknown.
Included in the exhibition is a series of small-format sketches, completed during his trips to Tokyo’s Shakujii Park. Created side by side with nature, these works embody Yu Chuan’s belief that sketching is the most direct conversation between artist and world. As he reflects, “Temporality is both the confinement and the liberation of sketching.” Within the framework of time, light transforms landscape, the landscape alters the viewer, and the viewer, in turn, reshapes the painting. Thus, painting becomes both captive of time, and, paradoxically, liberated by it.
In invoking Eikō seisui, Yu Chuan does not merely accept the transient and the ungovernable — he engages them with a calm philosophical poise. To move beyond the binaries of flourishing and decline is to seek an inner order, a stillness beneath the shifting surface. Only by recognizing and embracing impermanence can one begin to discover the harmony within life’s turbulence.
From Stranding Moment (2019), Non-Attachment (2020), White (2021), Sheng Sheng (2022), Samatha and Vipasyana (2023), and last year’s Let Life Be Beautiful like Summer Flowers (2024), Yu Chuan has continued, in a quiet and steady tone, to paint life’s solitude and reflections. He guides the viewer through the impermanence toward the eternal—and the tranquil peace that resides in its depths.

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