Lin Tan:Painting the Call of the Heart

by+Lang+Sufang,+Yan+Weibing,+and+Zeng+Hui

Lin Tan， born in 1951， majored in enterprise management at Taiwans Soochow University before joining an advertising company. As his career progressed， he quit his job because of his belief that “there is something more important than work.”When he entered his 50s， Lin began to devote his entire heart to painting.

Despite the fact that he never received formal training at an art school， his enthusiasm for painting has grown with each passing day. When studying at Soochow University， he taught himself traditional Chinese painting by tracing the work of famous painter Huang Junbi. Later， he learned from renowned traditional Chinese painters Weng Wenwei and Mou Chongsong.

Lin admires artists who devote their entire lives to the exploration of a certain painting technique， but insists that such a road isnt suited for him. He doesnt side with conservative rejection of attempts to change and reform certain rules of traditional Chinese painting， but believes that painting should depict the fluid and dynamic nature of ideas – that immutable mindsets only inspire the uncreative and lifeless. For this reason， he has always tried to bend the rules of traditional painting techniques and explore new subjects and techniques while maintaining the essential spirit of traditional Chinese painting.

Along with traditional Chinese painting， his art practice involves many other genres of art ranging from glazed pottery painting to modern ink-and-wash， threedimensional painting on gemstones， and colored slime painting. His canvases and materials include porcelain， bamboo charcoal， brick， stone， aluminum alloy， and even cement. Due to his persistent innovation， Lin has been dubbed the “most creative artist in Taiwan.”

Lin defines his painting style as “formless.” In his opinion， art should follow the heart. Not long ago， he sat down with China Pictorial （CP） to talk about his artistic philosophy.

CP： You call your painting style“formless” and assert that “painting is actually a depiction of emotions from the bottom of the heart.” What do you mean？

Lin： My mood becomes absolutely calm and pure when I paint. In this way， painting often reveals my true sentiments， which leads to my “formless” style. I create art by following the call of my heart， which makes my paintings imbued with a sense of Zen.

My paintings are typically created in two ways： One is to decide on a theme and then eliminate all distractions so that I paint the feelings at the bottom of my heart naturally. The other is to forgo the theme and just paint from my heart. The paintings created this way often convey my understanding of subjects that concern daily life.

CP： Do you use many techniques in your art？

Lin： I dont confine myself to a certain painting technique， but choose techniques freely according to my mood. For instance， my paintings Spring， Summer， Autumn， and Winter， which depict respective floral plants of each season， feature diverse usage of lines and strokes. If I stuck to the rules of traditional Chinese painting， I couldnt depict the varying textures of plants across the seasons using only lines and strokes. To show their differences， traditional Chinese painters can only adopt different colors and landscape compositions. However， its difficult to smoothly adapt techniques to changes in mood. A painter needs to be able to delve deep into the subconscious and paint his inner thoughts without hesitation. Any distraction will lead to a failure to create a perfect painting.

CP： The pigments you use for colored slime paintings are mixtures of a special adhesive with powder of minerals， bricks， cement， plaster， lime， and bamboo char- coal. Do assistants help you with all this？

Lin： I complete the entire process alone， from selecting and grinding natural materials to mixing them into pigments. This is because every step， including control of light intensity， can be adjusted the moment Im painting， and no one else can help.

CP： Why do you use aluminum alloy as a material？

Lin： My paintings are more than art –fruit of my heart. So， I cherish every one of them. This has also pushed me to explore techniques that can preserve my work for posterity. For this reason， Ive been constantly seeking materials that can make my work live as long as possible. Eventually， I decided that aluminum alloy slime painting was an ideal direction to go.