In Yau Wing Fung’s work Floating Mountain XI, his depiction of rock fragments increases the spatial ambiguities. In traditional Chinese painting, rock fragments, called “fantou” (矾头), often appear together with foliage on mountaintops. Yau reinterprets this setting by placing the rocks amid clouds, sometimes hinting at foliage by using tinges of azurite and cyanine. In absence of other objects to use as reference points, the distance between the earth and the sky becomes difficult to gauge. Fragments are easier to spread out over a flat surface and provide limited indications of depth. They underline the flattened pictorial space through their rhythmic linear pattern. The shift from a traditional landscape view to an aerial perspective also defamiliarizes the shape and form of the rocks. Instead of solid fragments, the rubble becomes an amalgamation of forms and protruding shapes. For some, the rounded outline of the rocks recall shapes of ganoderma, or lingzhi mushrooms, a cultural symbol of health and fortune in China. This blurs the distinction between organic and inorganic, making it difficult to pinpoint what the objects are. Differ from the previous works of the “Floating Mountain” series using gold paint to outline the rock fragments, Yau also uses silver paint to depict the gradation and abundant the image.

The spatial structures of Yau’s landscape are varied. Yau’s ambiguous pictorial space is like an accordion. Depending on how viewers approach the paintings, the space will expand or compress. It points to the immense distance between satellite and earth; it can also be compared to the projection of satellite images on a digital screen. The aerial view Yau constructed foregrounds the contradictions, ambiguities, and complexities of a contemporary visuality shaped by technology.

邱荣丰
蜃境 XI，2022
水墨设色纸本
54 1/8 x 27 1/8 英寸
137.2 x 68.9 厘米

在作品《蜃境 XI》中，邱荣丰对碎石的描绘让空间关系更加模糊。在传统绘画中，碎石，又称“矾头”，往往和草木一起散落在山顶。邱荣丰省略了其他画面元素，仅偶尔以花青和石青点缀在烟云之间来指代地面植被。因为缺少其他地面参照点，观者很难确定地面和云之间的距离。将石头处理为碎片也增强了构图的平面特征。小块的石头能够更好地在平面上排列开，同时只制造出有限的景深。这些尺寸类似的碎块在平面上拼接出繁复的图案，仿佛雾气中的浮雕。另外， 从平视转为空中视角也让绘画中的碎石与传统绘画中对石头的描绘不尽相同。它们不再像块状的实体，不同面向的碎石之间组合出既独立又连贯的空间层次。 对一些人来说，这些边缘柔和的形状看起来更像有机生命，譬如灵芝。这也让空间关系更为模糊和不确定。与之前的蜃境系列的其他作品不同的是，艺术家在画面中除了以往惯用的金色颜料勾勒浮石边界外，还添加使用了银色颜料，呈现出了不同的层次，丰富了画面的可读性。

邱荣丰创造的空间结构是可变的。当观者以不同的方式看画，画面可以像手风琴一样扩张拉伸或折叠为平面。画面可以包含卫星和地面之间的遥远距离，也可以看作排列于平面电子屏幕上的卫星云图。邱荣丰凸显了现代科技带给视觉文化的影响，包括其内在的种种矛盾属性和复杂交错的视觉体验。