看到金善的画作时，映入你脑海的第一个联想可能并不是自然界。在这一点上，我们可以看到在她的近期作品中较大动作地融入了油画的物理层面。当油彩与画布撞击时有一种内在的联系，在稠密与流体间产生了一种对抗性的张力。醒目的形状似乎定格在超大尺寸（300cm x 400cm）的画布上。漫步在这些画作中，你会马上想到二战后纽约的抽象表现主义。色彩上让人想到克莱福特·斯蒂尔，而那些丰满而有弧度的形状穿透表面，就像某种视觉干扰，让人想到罗伯特·马瑟韦尔。作品看起来似乎引用了上世纪中叶的美国传统。人们很容易认为它仅仅是受到战后美国传统（可能是）的激发，但事实上她的作品在细微上是有差别的。几次拜访她的工作室后，我才意识到金善的艺术作品是深深根植于中国传统的，并且十分尊重中国传统的绘画语言。多么大的跨越啊！
金善的早期画作属于社会现实主义风格，但并不表达社会主义观点。我们可以看出，人物的渲染很亲切，并且很注重细节——如眼睫毛、修剪整齐的指甲、未熨烫衬衫上的褶皱、肩膀上垂下的肩章、堆积在膝盖周围的短裤等等。嘴唇、鼻孔和劳作的双手都很清晰。这些作品的主题有一种共鸣，用柔软的线条描绘出私密的细节，使观赏者仿佛被带入了一段过去的旅程。在这些素描画作中有一种空间感。甚至这种铅笔线条的质地都会唤起时间和空间的感觉。如果说绘画是视觉艺术的基础，那么金善已经打下了坚实的基础。
金善几乎非常突然地从这些纸上的绘画转到了创作石头彩绘上。走在河滩中圆形的石头上，她突然联想起她的童年和腌制泡菜，这是韩国一种传统的发酵蔬菜。于是她开始在石头表面画画。除了焕然一新的画面，我们可以看出她正在尝试一种新的表达方式——抽象主义。这些用丙烯酸创作的彩绘表现出一种愉悦和童趣——蛇形纹设计基本上覆盖了大约100块石头的表面。色彩和形状让人想起索尼娅·德洛内和保罗·克利以及他们开创性的早期现代主义作品。金善将她艺术作品的这种转变归因于她从遥远的东北吉林省搬到了北京。这次搬家对她来说很突然。面对陌生的人群密集的城市环境和污染，她的作品也有了彻底的改变。作品中存在着矛盾，或者说是两种相反观点的融合。石头是坚硬不屈的，而彩绘形状是柔软、优美的，并有女性的温柔。清晰的轮廓旋转着包围石头，通过彩绘的纹理抹掉顶部或底部的概念。金善再次把自己与自然界重新联系起来，她的童年世界和国际大都市北京城市的变化反差。就像她选择创作彩绘的圆形石头，也是腌制泡菜的工具之一，它们被用来在发酵过程中压住大桶的木盖。彩绘石头是个人经历与环境间的联系，面对生活中的变化，回忆中的童年时光更加充满了欢乐。它们在空间和传统旋律上唤起了共鸣。
这些感官上色彩鲜艳的抽象形状逐渐从石头上延伸开来，并扎根在越来越大的油画布上，直到我们看到的她正在创作的这幅超大油画。经过这段时间的创作，她进一步探索并扩大了原来画在石头上的那些花样。画作变得更活泼、更自由；单薄与厚重形成强烈的对比，而蛇形纹的形态也有了改变，在大块的色彩中若隐若现。
画室的工作台上整齐的陈列着两幅已完成的大型油画，每一幅由4块300cm x 100cm竖板组成；还有一幅正在用最意想不到的方式开始创作。穿过还未上色的竖版画布是炭笔画出的一幅美轮美奂的风景图。如果将画按一定方向水平放倒，则是一幅100cm高、12m长的中国式卷轴。那些醒目的炭笔线条勾画出多节干枯的树，让我想起以前造访金善在新疆的工作室时看到的一些照片。炭笔画的树在广阔的白色天空下摇摆，虚无中漂浮的轮廓与阴影区域产生了一种韵律，有一种叙事感。我看着金善开始在第一幅四联画上创作，她在固定的炭笔画周围放两条带子，保持整幅画的完整性，然后就开始认真的绘画，先用广泛的简笔使所有线条都限定在指定的方向上，此时并没有选择调色板，调色板是预先选择好的，这与油画上色非常不同。当她靠近画满线条的画板时，几乎没有意识到有任何形状和区块，这让人想起抽象艺术最开始就是源自于探寻无意识思维自然反应的欧洲超现实主义，层与层之间创作时她会停顿一会。这些色彩层次与意识反应间仿佛在舞蹈，行动、反应、控制，颜料泼溅、滴落、刮擦、用吹风机吹干、拖曳并刷到画布上时，有一种推挽式的抒情和书法动作的感觉。
仔细地欣赏完成的画作会发现它们有着相似的起源和过程，炭笔画风景看起来依稀朦胧，在抽象表现主义外表下就像是翻新的古画。金善早期社会现实主义绘画中深厚的技法和敏锐的观察仍然是她视觉词汇的一部分。这些画从最初的水平方向转成竖直方向，然后并排对齐，突出了作品的抽象风格。现在这些树枝不再勾勒出叙事的风景，而更多地是构成自发动作的基础。
欣赏者经常会对艺术家的画室和个人空间着迷，我们相信一个艺术家的空间就是他灵魂的投影。通过这些空间可以洞察艺术家的思想、接近她的生活方式并了解她的构思方法。当我们被允许穿过毫无生气的画廊墙壁和灯火通明的作品展览区，尝试了解艺术家想法的起源时，通常会有种偷窥的感觉。拜访一个艺术家的画室，无论是在博物馆环境中还是活跃的创作现场，我们都能看见整个过程。我们可以获知艺术家们大脑中闪烁的灵感火花及其抓住灵感的整个过程。
在被完美保存的弗朗西斯·培根画室（被精心地拆开、分类并从伦敦搬到都柏林，然后重新组装）深处中，我们被那些堆叠的碎片迷住了。每件东西都被记录在案并分类，细微到尘埃。既是圣殿、又是博物馆，他在肖像画的一片混沌中体现出的画室杂物，现在都能在可搜索的数据库中找到，以便加强对其作品的研究学习。
相反，乔治·莫兰迪在意大利博洛尼亚的旧居是一个宁静有序的地方，艺术家选择的每件物品在形态和光泽上都在他高雅的作品中有所反映。房子/画室现在已被修复，并作为博洛尼亚现代艺术博物馆的一部分。画作放在他珍藏的材料、家具和物品旁边，形成了绘画的背景，并能看出他创作的方式；各种瓶子和花瓶摆放得好像是还没来得及涂上油彩的作品。同样，走进金善的创作空间也能领悟到与她作品的联系。
六环路以北是北京城区农田和传统村落肆意蔓延的地方，金善2009年在这里设计并建造了她的个人空间。这间画室高达5米，有着现代化的结构和闪亮的油漆，给人以宁静有序的感觉。各种书籍整齐地叠放在中间的桌子上，画布有序地支在墙边，每块画布都与一个凳子中心对齐。还有一些简单的架子，陈列着她早期的作品。大胆的混凝土堆砌形状和玻璃反射表现出中世纪西方现代主义风格，她的作品也是如此。和弗朗西斯·培根和乔治·莫兰迪一样，这个空间可以理解为她精神的蔓延。正如她的作品那样，房子在结构上其实与第一感觉有着细微的差别。所有的玻璃、混凝土和现代感都体现了中式住宅的传统。位于村落边缘，穿过玉米地，面向街道的一侧是一片空白的墙，仅留有一扇大铁门。这扇门也是进入中心地带花园庭院的通道，画室和个人空间环绕着诗一般的中央庭院。与街道边坚硬而令人生畏的高墙不同，这里的墙都是玻璃做成的。整个建筑沿着花园朝向内侧，铁门按传统位于房子的西南角。这座现代建筑的各个方面都体现出传统的庭院式住宅风格，这是中国过去风靡的住宅形式。房子和画室沿着花园展开，就像金善艺术的进步一样。
庭院花园与她的作品密不可分，很难分清是谁影响了谁。到底是她的绘画作品影响了花园的设计，还是花园是作品的折射？花园里有各种各样的结构和形状。花圃并不是方形的，它合理的保护了各种植物肆意生长，但蛇纹石与彩绘石头相同，色彩和质地都是一样的。这里还可以看见她用来创作的调色板。夏末，我看见蓝色的天空下南瓜挤进了橙树。同样的形状和色彩出现在画室玻璃窗另一侧的超大画布上，蓝色大地上漂浮着带着泥土的橙色球。十月中旬的一天，我拜访了她的画室，并观看了她创作，花园的颜色改变了，她创作的新作品上选择的色彩也改变了。鲜红的鸡冠花在窗外怒放，窗内她的油画也大量的采用了红色。旁边有一幅已经画好的素描，形状看起来像是她收获并储藏在工作室的那些葫芦一样。她办公桌上的树木、险峻高山等的旅行照片也是她创作的素材。穿行在她的个人空间，使人想起人与自然的交叉。就像乔治·莫兰迪的珍藏或弗朗西斯·培根的杂物一样，近在咫尺的花园和旅行照片中回忆的风景都为金善提供了无穷无尽的创作灵感。
金善谈到了她的创造阶段和变化。是的，单独就作品表面来看似乎是很突兀的变化，但从画作的细节来说，从彩绘石头到抽象的油画到纪念性的抽象形态，它们在深层次上都具有连续性，都包含了对自然和传统的尊重。欣赏她所创造的世界时，人们可以看到的所有现代性都证明，她从未离开过自然界。自然无时无刻不存在于她的作品中，只是常常不是很明显而已。
Christopher Pelley
美国纽约/ 北京 2014
Kim Sun Juan The Natural World
(李丽君 译)
Looking at the paintings of Kim Sun Juan, the natural world may not be the first connection that enters your mind. Here, in her recent works, we see the grand gesture involving the physicality of paint. There is a visceral connection as the paint collides with the canvas developing an antagonistic tension between the dense and the fluid application . Bold shapes seem to be set adrift on the monumentally scaled (300cm x 400cm) canvases. While wandering among these paintings, the work of post WWII New York Abstract Expressionists immediately comes to mind. One thinks of Clyfford Still for the color and Robert Motherwell for the rounded and arcing shapes that cross the surface like some sort of retinal disturbance. The work appears to be referencing this mid century American tradition One could be forgiven for categorizing her work as simply inspired by that post-war American tradition (which it may be), but the work is much more nuanced. Over he course of several studio visits, I became aware how deeply Kim Sun Juan's artistic output is rooted in Chinese tradition and respect for the land. How did we get from there to here?
Kim Sun's early drawings are in a social realist style, but without the socialist commentary. Here we see figures lovingly rendered, attention paid to details - eyelashes, neatly trimmed fingernails, folds in an unpressed military shirt, epaulettes drooping off the shoulder, pants bunching up around the knee. We have details of lips and nostrils, and work worn hands. There is an empathy for the subjects in these works, the soft line describing intimate details allows the viewer to be taken on a journey to a time now past. In these drawings, sketches and studies, one experiences sense of place. Even the texture of the pencil marks is evocative of a time and place. If drawing is the foundation of visual art, then Shan has built a strong one.
Almost abruptly, Kim Sun moved from these drawings on paper to applying paint on rocks. Stumbling upon rounded river rocks sparked a connection to her childhood and the making of kimchi, the traditional Korean fermented vegetables. She began painting on their surfaces. Besides a new surface, we see her experimenting with new forms of expression – abstraction. These paintings in acrylic present a joyfulness and playfulness - the serpentine designs ultimately covering the surface of nearly 100 rocks. The color and shapes bring to mind the work of Sonia Delaunay, and Paul Klee and their pioneering works of early modernism. Kim Sun attributes this shift of her artistic output to her move to Beijing from her home in Jilin Province in the far northeast of China. The move was an abrupt change for her, and Shan's work changed radically in response to this new dense urban environment and its pollution. There is a contradiction here, or maybe it is a synthesis of two opposing ideas. The rocks are hard and unyielding and the painted forms are soft and sensuous and distinctly feminine. The defined edges which swirl to embrace the rocks are emphasised by textural daubs of paint erasing the notion of top or bottom. Kim Sun is reconnecting and literally grounding herself in the natural world and the world of her youth as a defensive act against the aggressive urbanism of Beijing. Rocks, like the rounded ones she chose to paint on, are a part of making the pickled vegetables. They are collected to hold down the wood lids of the vats during the fermentation process. The painted rocks serve as a connection between personal history and environment, there is a joy in a childhood remembered in the face of change. They are evocative of place and the rhythms of tradition.
These sensuous colorful abstract shapes lept off the rocks and rooted themselves on canvases that have gotten progressively larger until we have the monumental size she is working on now. The patterns originally painted on the rocks were explored and amplified over the course of time. The paint became more active and free; thin washes now play against thicker areas, and the serpentine shapes morphing into larger blocks of color.
There are two completed mega canvases perched neatly on benches in the studio. Each is made up of 4 vertical 300cm x 100cm panels. There is another one beginning in the most unexpected fashion. Across the yet unpainted vertical canvases is a sumptuous landscape sketched out in charcoal. If laid out in its suggested horizontal orientation, it would read as a traditional Chinese scroll painting 100cm high and 12 meters long. The gnarled and desiccated trees drawn with bold charcoal strokes are reminiscent of some photos I saw in Jin's office of a trip to XinJiang Province. There is a sense of narrative here as the charcoal trees sway across the vast white expanse creating a rhythm between the outlines which sometimes drift off into thin air and the cross-hatched shaded areas. I watched as Kim Sun began to work on the first of the 4 panels. A couple of lengths of tape were placed over the fixed charcoal drawing to preserve its integrity. Then the painting began in earnest. Broad brush strokes of paint were laid down, allowing the lines of the charcoal drawing sealed underneath to suggest direction. The choice of color palette was not made at the spur of the moment, but was pre chosen, contrasting sharply with the spontaneity of the paint application. As she approaches the canvas with the loaded brush she almost unconsciously finds shapes and blocks them in, reminding one that originally abstract art was an outgrowth of European surrealism, tapping into the automatic response of the unconscious mind. There is a pause between the completion of one layer and the next. A dance quickly develops between these layers of colors and the spontanous response. Action. Reaction. Manipulation. There is a push-pull lyricism going on here and a sense of a calligraphic movement as the paint is splashed, dripped, scraped, blown with a hair dryer, dragged and brushed onto the canvas.
Thoughtful looks at the completed paintings show similar origins and process. The charcoal landscapes are dimly visible like some ancient pentimento underneath the bravado of abstract expressionist paint. The strong draftsmanship and acute observation of her early social realist drawings continues to be part of Jin Shan's visual vocabulary. The paintings have been rotated from their suggested original horizontal orientation to a vertical one and aligned shoulder to shoulder, emphasizing the abstract quality of the work. The tree branches now serve less as defining a narrative landscape and more as the grounding structure for the spontaneous gesture.
Viewers are fascinated with artist's studios and personal spaces. We believe an artist's space is a projection of the artist's psyche. The spaces offer insights to an artists' mind, the way they approach life, the way they organize thoughts. A sense of voyeurism exists as we are allowed to peek beyond the sterile gallery walls and well lit spaces where the finished work is exhibited, to try and grasp the origin of the artists' ideas. A visit to an artists' studio, whether in a museum setting or an active, productive space, we see process. We gain clues to the stimuli that sparks those synapses in an artists' brain and grease the thought process.
We are mesmerised by the cyclonic debris piled deep in Francis Bacon's perfectly preserved studio – which was meticulously taken apart, cataloged, moved from London to Dublin, and then re-constructed. Everything was documented and cataloged, right down to the dust. Part shrine, part museum, the studio clutter that is reflected in the chaos of his painted portraits, is now in a search-able database set up to enhance the study of his work.
Giorgio Morandi's former residence in Bologna, Italy, by contrast is serene and ordered, each object chosen by the artist for its shape and patina is mirrored in his sublimely arranged compositions. The house / studio was restored and is part of the Museo D'Arte Moderna di Bologna . Paintings live along side his materials, furniture and the objects he admired, giving context to the work and insight to the way he worked; the bottles and vases arranged like yet unpainted compositions. Similarly, a walk around Jin Shan's space yields insight and unthought of connections to her work.
North of the 6th ring road, where Beijing's relentless urban sprawl yields to agricultural land and traditional villages, Kim Sun designed and constructed her personal space in 2009. A modernist structure with a luminous painting studio soaring 5 meters high, there is a sense of tranquility and order. Books are neatly stacked on a centered table, canvases rest in a regimented order against the wall, each aligned and centered on a stool. There are pristine racks which archive earlier work. The boldly massed shapes of concrete and glass reflecting, as do her paintings, a mid-century western modernism. This space, like that of Francis Bacon or Giorgio Morandi, can be read as an extension of her spirit. And like her paintings, this structure is more nuanced than first perceived. For all its glass and concrete and modernity it respects the tradition of Chinese housing. Located at the edge of a village, across from cornfields, the street facade offers only a blank wall, pierced by an iron gate. This gate in turn gives access to the heart of the compound, the garden courtyard. The studio and personal spaces wrap around his poetic central court. The walls which are solid and forbidding on the street side are here replaced with glass, the orientation of the building facing inwards around the garden, the iron gate located in the tradition dictated south west corner of the compound. In every way this contemporary building reflects and honors the traditional courtyard house, once the predominant form of dwelling in China. The house and studio unfold around the garden as does the progress of Kim Sun 's art
The courtyard garden shares many visual affinities with her work. It is hard to distinguish which influenced the other. Did her paintings influence the garden design, or are the gardens a reflection of the paintings? There are a wide variety of texture and shapes in the gardens. The beds are not a squared and offering rational protection to the different types of flora that are encouraged to grow there, but serpentine similar to the painted stones, the colors and textures are both defined and spreading with amoebic tenacity. The color palette that she chooses for her work is also visible here. In late summer, I saw round squash ripening to orange against a blue sky. The same shapes and colors appeared on a super sized canvas just on the other side of the glass in the studio as an earthy orange orb floating on a blue ground. A day in mid October when I paid a studio visit and watched her paint, the colors of the garden had changed, and so had her color choices for the new painting she was working on. Bright red coxcombs were ablaze outside, and red was used liberally on the canvas inside. A preparatory sketch for another work showed shapes that looked like the gourds that she collects and stores in her office. Travel photos of trees and forbidding mountains that lay on her office desk have also become source material. Walking through her space suggests the intersection of the personal and the natural world. Like Giorgio Morandi's prized objects, or Francis Bacon's clutter, landscape, both immediately adjacent in the garden and the landscape of memory maintained in travel photos provide Kim Sun an endless source of inspiration.
Kim Sun Juan talks about the phases her work and the changes. Yes, taken individually there are seemingly abrupt changes. From drawings which delight in the details, to painted rocks to abstract canvases to monumental abstracts. But there is also an underlying sense of continuity. There is respect for nature and tradition. For all the modernity one sees as one looks at the universe she has created, she has never turned her back on the natural world. It is present, just not always obvious.
Christopher Pelley
New York / Beijing 2014