- A  short essay on Ke Ma’s new work 

If you do not impose restrictions on yourself, meanings will surface. ^（1）

——Zhuangzi, ‘The World’

Ke Ma has been very dedicated in pursuing the expansion of the spiritual realm in his artistic practice. With his employment of the minimalist techniques of oil painting, the artist attempts to provoke a thoughtful reflection on the current era in the most creative and imaginative manner. He stressed the visual power of the paintings and Ma uses the metaphor of sound, as if his paintings can make noises or scream and resonate with the viewer. The meaning of his works comes afterwards. This  so called ‘resonance’ is made possible with Ma’s extreme sensitivity to the texture of the material he is handling as well as his constant exploration of freedom. ⁽²⁾ He does not restrict himself in a single mode of thinking, nor is he concerned with the grand narrative. ⁽³⁾  Instead, the artist turned to a more fragmented reality and expressing the complexities of such. It is a constructed reality which repudiated ‘reality’ taken for granted, resembling the magic of the allegory. In his recent works, the artist proceeds to condense his sense of the ‘real’ into an enigmatic and inexplicable realm. 

He rejects anything that is predetermined or confined and it is expressed in his persistent attempts to realise such spirits in his works. It can be found in the ancient Chinese philosophy (such as in Zhuangzi’s allegories) that there has always been a method dealing with how people implement their spiritual pursuits. There are two elements worth noticing in these allegories. The first element concerns with the progress of a plot and the second element concerns with how the story is concocted; the former emphasised the concrete reality whereas the latter underscored the spirit. Therefore, one enters a world that is seemingly explicable. The tension of such two forces is eminent in Ma’s works and it is precisely this tension which makes his work interesting. 

Ma is certainly a good storyteller in his oil paintings and he also enjoys the pleasure of doing so. The pleasure is not only derived from his experimentation of the painting surface, but also from his explorations of minute details of the psyche in contemporary life. The vivid illustrations of the figures and the depictions of the vast array of human conditions are successfully executed. His paintings convey a sense of the mystique and beauty that is comparable to the experience of seeing northern light. Ma’s reflections on life are embodied in his thoughtful approach to the traditional Chinese philosophy. His works provoke the viewer to think about the cycle of life. Things that are beginnings are also endings.

The term ‘Revelatory Light’ is tinted with a religious undertone. I was reading a book called ‘Waiting’ in 1995 and the term constantly came to my mind. The work of Ma is an externalisation of his spiritual journey. The image of light can resides both in the paintings and the mind and it is a thread which connects the inner world and the outer space.

In his landscape series which he painted before the year 2000, the objects were painted as if they are under dim light. The soft lights are diffused in the paintings and it created a feeling of the distant and the unknown. From then on, he grasped the use of light in a very short period of time. For example, in the ‘Horse’ painting series, his subtle employment of light has a power in creating strong emotions. His style surfaced when he started to paint the ‘Hard Top’ series. Resembling the lightning in a stormy night, the contrast between the light and the dark becomes clear. It is a light that makes you raise your head and confront it. 

At the same time, the spirit of light is finally incorporated into the body. It can be found that he gradually painted the figures in brighter colours and they appear to be very confident and energetic. I attended an international art fair with a poet called Ye Duo once and he was rather disappointed with the current state of art. Although we live in an era filled with corruption and scandals, yet we need to admit that it is not without hope. The pessimistic mood that is prevalent in the current contemporary art world might be caused by the degradation of the spiritual world. The illustration of lights in Ma’s paintings represents hope for the contemporary art world. 

In his recent paintings, he dedicated himself to focus on the depiction of the ‘real’. The lights have almost acquired a transparent quality. In his ‘Interior’ series, this characteristic of light becomes apparent. It is a symptom for the advent of another period. 

It is a light in revelation. 

Ma is obsessed with the artistic means of expression and he tries to convert his obssesion into concrete forms. It is Ma’s personal ambition to perfect his painting technique and to pursue the spiritual elevation. His paintings contain the tension of a controlled expressiveness. He absorbed the painting techniques which are rooted in the West and infused characteristics peculiar to the Chinese paintings. The juxtaposition of both styles renders a possible opportunity for him to experiment. It is not an infusion in the conventional sense but a painting technique that has been considered carefully by the artist and it ultimately serves to express the artist’s emotions. For instance, in his painting ‘Ye Lang Zi Da’, the artist synthesised the styles from the East and the West perfectly. The brushstrokes are bold and expressive and they have a deterministic role in illustrating the figures. 

On the other hand, Ma is loyal to his own style. Chinese philosophy stresses the importance of sincerity in rethorics. Authenticity and sincerity are without doubt central to Ma’s works. It is not only the painting techniques that he is studying but also what they can bring to the his artistic expression. 

The spacial element is crucial to painting in the sense that every movement made by an artist is intimately related to his or her environmet. Therefore, each artist’s perception of space is also his perception of the world. Ma’s recognition of a space is linked to his field of vision. In his ‘Reading Series’, he illustrated the psychological dimension of space and its interaction with the subjects, provoking strong emotions. Therefore, he always chooses to paint an expanse as it is the case in his ‘Hard Top’ series. The composition of painting is very effective. 

But in his recent paintings, Ma seems to be more interested in a narrow and closed space. He begins to focus on the placement of the subjects and their relationship with the psyche and with that of the others. We discover a style that becomes more legible and succinct. 

It can be demonstrated in his paintings (‘The Reading Series’ and the ‘Hard Top Series’) that the depiction of space has been shifting to a gradual focus on the reflection on the reality. The psychological is transformed onto a visual paradigm with passion and imagination. ^（4）It is a return to the everyday where the mind resides. He dedicated himself to explore his past, present and the minutae details. The space in his paintings therefore contain his sensitive feelings. Ma realised the importance of excavating the minute details in contemplating on the world. Ma’s painting of the space is an externalisation of his inner world. It shows his unique point of view. ^（5）

One can vaguely sense the existence of an inexplicable being in his paintings. The ‘being’ bears a magical quality that is conducive to strong emotions. It is like a magnet in metaphor and the viewers are attracted to the special qualities of his paintings. The inspiration that comes to the artist’s mind drives him to work in such a manner. 

In his work ‘Interior’, there are two oval shaped balls painted in dark purple. The background opens up a wide horizon and the viewers can almost hear a mixed noise derived from the visual language. The mirage-like images convey an enigmatic force. 

In the forthcoming works which he painted in an allegorical style, the image of a big trumpet was introduced. The trumpet signifies another space outside the painting and become a conductor between the viewers and the images. It is when we resonate with the emotions in the art work we begin to be addicted to it. The essence of painting is to express feelings and reflect upon our existence. Ma fully embraces the soul of painting and his work carries the essence of painting naturally. 

The images of trumpets not only expand the sound and the special element, but also they participated the construction of thoughts. In other words, one can understand the concept of the works from multiple points of view. Ma’s recent paintings accentuated the allegorical visual language and created meanings one need to decipher in order to understand them. It seems he is providing a new channel of understanding for the viewer. In fact, when the meanings start to transform from the visual language, such channels are elevated at the same time. In his work ‘Three People Turned into Tigers’, he achieved to reveal the metaphor successfully. In this way, all the metaphors are merged into one and thus created complex decoding of meanings. Related to the system of meanings is the Chinese tradition. In ‘Dao De Jing, the philosophy of Laozi is manifested fully in merely several thousands of words. The metaphors used by Laozi are extremely complicated and simple at the same time and one can sense the tension created in his metaphors. Traditional philosophical ideas are inherent in the development of Chinese contemporary art. 

There is a certain dialogue created by Ma’s paintings，especially by the way he handles light. Paintings are no longer purely visual but also an embodiment of the spirit of universal freedom. To a certain extent, human beings as individuals are altruistic. Therefore the light that makes you raise your head will have the same impact on others.⁽⁶⁾ Anyone who is sensitive to the fall of the world may explain his own opinions on the current conditions of society. Ke Ma’s own alibi resides in his mythic subjects and the lights he uses provoke a sense of the divine. 

(1)If you do not impose restrictions on yourself, meanings will surface.

(2)From Alto, “brutal drama”

(3)From the poet Seamus Heaney, "The Jurisdiction of The Tongue" Article

(4)From Wiesel, "A Jew in Today’s World"

(5)From Susan Sontag’s "Under the Sign of Saturn"

(6)From Walter Benjamin’s "One Way Street"