Abstract
Art is a means of expressing beauty and propagating love. It features in inheriting tradition and initiating novelty. With this conception, the present thesis, standing on the tradition of Chinese painting, focuses on studying and creating artistic works combining the modern theories of Chinese and Western Art.
Yangmingshan is selected as the theme of artistic creation, and hence, the research, on the one hand, collects the ecological environment and cultural scenery of Yangmingshan and, on the other hand, examines the maestros’ works in terms of depicting scenes and landscapes in Taiwan and Yangmingshan, which also helps one to understand the development of Taiwan painting. Coupled with modern painting theories and media, furthermore, this thesis endeavors to reveal the core concept of my artistic creations, “the nature adopts the ancient idea, while the appearance changes to contemporary moods. ” The present thesis is divided into five chapters as follows.
The first chapter “Introduction” illustrates the research motives, purposes, aspects, scope, and limitations.
“Topics for Discussion” is composed of three sections. Based on the textural sources, the first section discusses the history and humanistic spirit, the geographical sites and scenes, the local natural ecosystem, the geological and terrain features, and hot springs. Secondly, the development of landscape paintings in Taiwan will be reviewed, including the periods of the Dutch dominion, the Qing sovereignty, the Japanese occupation, the early days of Chinese restoration, the KMT administration, and nowadays. Last, masterpieces by contemporary artists are selected for exploring how the artists create works after appreciating natural scenes and landscapes.
In the chapter of “Topic Selection,” the significance of selecting topics is demonstrated. I shall first discuss the responses and conveyance between my own feelings and viewed objects, then the functions of the objects’ metaphors, and last the transformations between the objects and my works. By sharing my feelings and works to the audience, my attempts of converting the true, conveying the good, representing the beautiful, and communicating love through visual works shall be accomplished.
The forth chapter “Theoretical Foundation” will investigate both the Eastern painting theories and Western artistic thinking.
The core concept of this research is reinforced in the chapter of “Idea of Creation and Analysis of Works.” I shall present Shi Tao’s spirit of “brush and ink should follow the eras,” in other words paintings revealing contemporary taste, through my works by applying modern technologies and materials to traditional painting techniques and by combining Chinese and Western painting conceptions. Therefore, my works with images will be reviewed individually in terms of humanistic, historical, and eco backgrounds, along with the idea of creation and analysis of techniques.
The “Conclusion” demonstrates my thinking after examining myself and my creations based on the research process and achievements.