Lotus under the sun 2001

This is Wu Guanzhong’s lotus, painted with ink and color on paper. I imagine him in the studio, brush in hand, coaxing these pinks and grays into being. Look at how the pink petals emerge from the grey wash—a dance of color and light. It feels like the painting came into being through trial and error, shifting and emerging through intuition. What was he thinking as he made it? Maybe how the solidity of ink can capture something as ephemeral as a lotus in bloom? There is an artist's conversation happening here. The way the brushstrokes hover recalls traditional Chinese painting, but Wu brings something entirely new. Like, how do you capture feeling through the bare minimum of marks? I feel a connection to him, like we're both chasing something elusive. In painting, there's no right or wrong, just an ongoing exchange of ideas.