This work unfolds as a visual experiment built on contrast. In the upper register, elements from traditional Chinese landscape painting—rocks, trees, and figures—are isolated into discrete components. Below, Zhang Xiaoli reconstructs the same motifs using LEGO® bricks.

Rather than a simple juxtaposition, this pairing reflects two approaches to tradition. One is rooted in repetition and intuitive absorption, as seen in the continuous practice of copying historical works. The aim of such facsimile learning is to inherit ways of seeing and brushwork from earlier masters—to observe through their eyes and paint with their hands. The other approach is grounded in analysis, translation, and reconstruction. Zhang’s act of translating mountains and rocks, etc., into modular block form brings these two modes into dialogue, making visible their distance and overlap.

By turning pictorial elements into modular units, Zhang re-stages imitation as a process of selection, assembly, and invention. Here, those playful components become a visual syntax. They form a distinct language within the theatrical world she constructs, set in dialogue with their real-world counterparts, and invite viewers to shift perception and step into the unfolding stage of the traveller’s play.

这件作品是张小黎以对照结构展开的视觉实验：画面上方是传统山水画中独立拆解出的山石、树木与古意元素，下方则是张小黎以乐高积木的方式对同一母题进行的重组。这组对照不只是形式上的并置，更隐喻了学习传统的两种认知路径-古人学画如同习得母语，在反复临习中自然内化一套完整的视觉语法；而当代人学画，更像是在学习一门外语，需要先分析规则、背诵词汇，再依语法拼装成句。

她选择用“变体临摹”的方式对此回应，将传统部件翻译成乐高零件，在绘制中如同古人“师法诸家”般搜集不同系列积木，甚至自行设计缺失的零件。当所有元素被符号化后，选件摹画、叠加成画的过程竟复刻了传统“纸抄纸”的逻辑，而乐高积木也由此形成了她构造的剧场世界中的独特语言体系，与现实世界中的参照组在此展开，引领观众转换思维，步入这出行者剧场。