Bridging Cultures: a Chinese Artist in the Illawarra Tie-Hua Huang University of Wollongong
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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 1997 Bridging cultures: a chinese artist in the Illawarra Tie-Hua Huang University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Huang, Tie-Hua, Bridging cultures: a chinese artist in the Illawarra, Doctor of Creative Arts thesis, Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, 1997. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/919 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact Manager Repository Services: [email protected]. BRIDGING CULTURES A CHINESE ARTIST IN THE ILLAWARRA Artist's annotations submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree DOCTOR OF CREATIVE ARTS from UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by TIE-HUA HUANG BA, MA FACULTY OF CREATIVE ARTS CERTIFICATION I certify that this work has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by any other person, except where due reference has been made in the text. Tie-Hua Huang July 1997 BRIDGING CULTURES A CHINESE ARTIST IN THE ILLAWARRA ABSTRACT Tie-Hua Huang began his childhood artistic training under the master painter Zhu Qizhan in Shanghai. He also knew Tang Yun and other artists of that outstanding calibre. The training he gained was in the traditional methods of Chinese art from calligraphy and ink painting to seal-carving. His family had a love of the arts, both traditional and contemporary, and had an outward, international vision. They had built a collection of many famous and valuable art-works. Life was totally changed for the Huang Family by the Cultural Revolution and Tie-Hua Huang's art had to change also, denying the traditions he had learnt. His arrival in Australia in 1987 meant that he was not only dealing with the impact of a new environment, but was free once more to pursue the traditional work which was so important to him. As an artist he made his environment the source for his work, particularly the area where he settled—the Illawarra District of the South Coast of New South Wales. The combination of his fresh vision of this 'new' land, his contact with western art and the freedom to re-visit his traditional style has allowed him to create works that give a new vision of the Australian landscape and of the details of things that surround the artist in his everyday life. The research led to a major exhibition of this work in the Wollongong City Gallery in 1996. The annotations, with photographic records, that supplement the exhibition give an autobiographical survey of the life and influences that have shaped the work, including personal and social matters, tradition and modernity and the blending of influences from east and west. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The assistance of family, friends and colleagues over the past five years of this research cannot be properly acknowledged and it is possible that some names would be missed if I were to make a list. I will, therefore, thank all who have helped me during that time. All the support has been appreciated more than words can say. I must note my particular thanks to a number of people, without whom I could not have completed the work. Peter Shepherd, my supervisor, has guided and helped me throughout this time with great patience and wisdom. His generous assistance and friendship have meant so much to me. My wife, Jana, and my daughter, Shengnan, have lived this project with me and have my eternal thanks. Edmund Capon, Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, has been so kind and supportive since I came to Australia. His encouragement has made it possible for me to keep my artistic career developing in this, my new home. Keith Tognetti and family, whose friendship has been important to me. Lindsay Duncan and Robert Liddicoat, who at different times generously helped me by proof-reading drafts of sections of my writing. John Cleverley for his friendship and support. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction to the Huang Family 1 Chapter 2 Early Training 8 Chapter 3 School Life 14 Chapter 4 An Early Trip to Russia 20 Chapter 5 In the Early Phase of the Cultural Revolution 25 Chapter 6 The Cultural Revolution Continues 30 Chapter 7 My Teacher, Zhu Qizhan 36 Chapter 8 EstabUshing an Artist's Career 44 Chapter 9 The Last Years in China 57 Chapter 10 Arrival in Australia 67 Chapter 11 A Changing Style as a New Life Develops 78 Chapter 12 The Artists Becomes Part of a New Culture 91 Chapter 13 The Exhibited Works 98 Bamboo 105 Birds and Rowers (Still Life) 110 Landscapes 112 Industrial Landscapes 117 Landscape Memories 118 Figurative Painting 119 Self Portrait 122 Appendix: Works from the Artist's Collection 125 List of Plates 127 Bibliography 129 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION TO THE HUANG FAMILY As an artist I have devoted myself to studies in ink and wash technique for many years in the hope that I will continue to develop a style within the Chinese literary painting tradition. I am always concerned with the attributes of calmness, power and vigour which represent the most important unifying aspects of Chinese aesthetics which have continued over one thousand years. Literary painting laid its stress on spirit and what is called interests or vitality. Figures and landscapes were produced within a painting language by brush and ink, which have become symbols in their own right. This led to the element of line becoming an important feature of the traditional oriental painting language and it freed this art from its bondage to shape. The lines then emerge at yet another level of expression to display the spiritual life within the painting. However, the meaning embraced in the painting could be of numerous varieties in different times and by different artists. The artistic connotation is rich and colourful, and the style differed from one painter to another. From the early Tang Dynasty [7th-10th centuries] to the present day literary painting has shared some common features: artists mainly sought to present the emotion of literati and officialdom and led a solitary life. The appreciation of the beautiful embraced ancient philosophies of Confucianism, and of the religion of Buddhism. In the Ming Dynasty, a scholar artist Dong Qichang suggested the separation of the Northern school, the same clan of painting and calligraphy which divorced literary painting from the secular. My intention has been to use this tradition as a scaffold which would allow me to move into a new direction combining both western and traditional oriental styles. I always try to follow the approach of 'catching the spirit beyond the form', 'painting in an impressionistic manner' which allows me to 'cover the spirit vividly'. Chinese literary painting does not so much stress the reality in the form and logic of the plots, it also seeks to cover the inner emotions within the artistic conception to create a world within itself. There are three traditional categories, namely: super work, fine work and skilful work. Only in modern times have artists been permitted the freedom to modify and even break through the ancient constraints. The first time I left China, I met some artists who managed to rid themselves of these encumbrances. This meant they knowingly let go of traditional limitations and moved freely into a new world of creativity, inspired by great art works from the western museums. I realised that all one should ask of the past is that it provide an education in painting technique, including historical and philosophical information 2 and painting skills. As an artist living in a different cultural environment, I believe the time is ripe for me to combine the styles of both eastern and western traditions, thus I have been attempting to express this new amalgamation through my imagination. I was born in Shanghai, the largest city in China, on 11 October 1953, as the fifth son in my family. My family's native town was Shaoxiong, a prosperous town in Zhejing Province in Eastern China. My grandfather retired after serving as a dentist for the Royal Family in the 'Forbidden City' at Beijing, and then he moved house with his family to Shanghai in the second half of the 19th century. This was a period of political crisis in China, witnessing the decline of the Qing Dynasty and the impact of the presence of the West. As a result of China's defeat in the Opium War by the British and the subsequent treaty of Nanking in 1842, Shanghai became one of the five treaty pons open to foreign trade and residence. With such economic prosperity brought about by trade with the West, Shanghai became a major centre for culture with many people living in the trade port of Mandarins and Compradors who gained in wealth and power through their involvement with western trade. This newly acquired wealth enabled them to become patrons of the arts. Most wealthy patrons became competent in languages and in dealing with westerners. They were not educated in the traditional sense and therefore were not attracted to the tastes of the literati. They acquired art works not so much for contemplation but to decorate their homes and business places for prestige. They tended to collect contemporary art that they could understand and relate to.1 It is a similar situation today in Hong Kong. This new cultural environment influenced my grandfather, who joined the artistic circle and drew inspiration from the traditional folk woodblock illustrations in terms of subject matter and brush technique.