Rippling Water Hall 1871 - 1933

Jian Guzhai made this oval ink cake, called Rippling Water Hall. We don't know when. It’s tiny and it is amazing. Look closely and you'll see that the artist has carved these super-refined dragons on either side of three columns of text. The dragons aren't just decorations, they're part of how the cake works; they're these wriggly textures and forms that seem to be growing from the surface itself. And speaking of surface, you can almost feel the grain of the cake. The tool marks on the dragons give it a kind of raw, immediate presence. It reminds me of Elizabeth Murray's paintings, where she was making these real simple marks that captured the essence of the painting. It's not just about what it looks like, but about the physical reality of the thing. Art keeps talking to itself; it is an ongoing conversation.