• 石之思與形之間：黎志文雕塑的“之間”美學

    黎志文的文化經驗也同樣具有這種獨特的「間性」。 他出生於香港，長期往來於東西方藝術教育環境，既熟悉西方現代雕塑對於材料、空間和體量的解放，也深受中國傳統山水美學中虛實和天人關係的影響。 黎志文獨特的“之間”創作思想，在於他沒有把這些經驗處理成表像的文化拼貼，而是在多重資源的相互牽制中打開新的方向。 我們可以概括地說，西方現代主義使雕塑擺脫古典再現傳統，中國思想則使材料重新進入身體與自然關係之中。 兩者在他的作品中沒有朝向單面的西方式本質還原，反而是持續提供若即若離的張力。 再者，如果僅以「抽象雕塑」概括黎志文，只會遮蔽其作品內部的複雜性。 他的抽象不單是純粹依賴純形式的自足，而是從自然形態、漢字結構和空間氣息中提煉而來。 正因為他的作品常常保留自然物、水紋、器物和文字構形的殘影，形體因此具有含蓄的“會意”：它引導觀者聯想到自然與文化，又不斷撤回到石材自身的沉默之中。 這種含而不盡的狀態，使作品同時擁有東方美學的餘韻和西方現代雕塑的材料意識。

     

    -摘自  譚力新副教授 四川美術學院藝術人文學院 ＜石之思與形之間：黎志文雕塑的“之間”美學＞

     

     

  • 齊物形開

    雕塑和其他藝術一樣，是人類跟周圍環境事物的關係而形成的產物，可以說有人類便有雕塑。義大利文藝復興時代的一位學者雅卑底(L、B、Albert 1404～72)所寫有關雕塑的書(人像)中提及：「早期雕塑可能開始形成時，是從人類在自然界察覺到某些類似人或動物形象的樹幹或泥土；採用減掉或添加的方法將它變得更相似所啓示出來的，而到後來慢慢便不需依賴這些類似的「作品」便能制造出來。」雅卑底所說的經驗，在我國一些奇石異木作品中顯露無遺。而國人崇尚自然，自古便利用「天趣」去制作不同的作品來。

            正式接受雕塑教育是1969年從香港到台灣藝專雕塑科開始，三年級時受教於杭州藝專畢業的丘雲老師。1973年畢業後便到義大利卡拉拿的亨魯
    (Henraux)    石雕工坊從事石雕創作，在那裡接觸到亨利‧摩爾、野口勇、彼得·卡耶拿等雕塑家。在這國際雕塑家滙集之中心從事創作衝擊下，使我反省出對自我文化的反思尋找，祈望通過藝術的學習研究，來豐富有一個中國文化的人生，讓人生更立体。

        出國到義大利時帶了一本漢代許慎編著的「說文解字」，此書編著古代人以六書法則創造文字，而能望文生義。顯出造字者之費思和智慧，背後更顯示出先民自古以來與大自然環境共生共息的生活經驗；乃至人與人之間的互相復雜之關係等，乃至孕育出來特有的華夏文化的生命觀和宇宙觀。

        便試圖從「說文解字」書中的象形和會意雨造字的法則去創作雕塑，借助豐富悠久之傳統文化，來探索現代雕塑藝術便順理成章，也更是我終身志願。

        六書中的象形字是利用簡單之線條來表逹物体，手法為簡單抽象，著重表現其外形等之特徵。在龜甲或獸骨上契刻的甲骨文最為原始，例如：水、日、月、山等等，山與水兩象形字是簡單最易被看懂的造形。便用直接石雕手法將山和水立体造形表現出來。

        而制作此類象形雕刻，多仿效上古原始玉器造型，簡單純粹，古倔不華的風格。作品皆以簡約的形式構成，利用簡單的線條與幾何形体來創作，更易凸顯出作品內在的張力和所要表彰的觀念，也更能讓觀者容易接近作品，並有所感受。

     

    -摘自 黎志文 ﹤齊物形開﹥

  • Between performance and presentation

    The Duality of Art is the Characteristic of Chinese Visual Arts Language, and a symbol that LAI CHI MAN persistently seeks within Chinese archetypes. This complementary or confrontational duality, commonly seen in figurative art and literature, is not the Yin-Yang dichotomy of philosophical ontology. Artistic duality may manifest as contrasts in texture and sensation—such as convexity and concavity, light and shadow, reality and illusion, thickness and thinness—or as relational concepts like motion and stillness, elegance and vulgarity, high and low, lofty and humble. It embodies the essential meaning conveyed through sensory imagery and serves as a structural framework to enhance artistic expressiveness.

    LAI CHI MAN's stone sculptures often develop around the contradictions and mutual resistance between form and concept. Works like "Up and Down,"  "Bump,"  "Rope and Bump," and "Rope and Stone" all stem from this concept. "Up and Down" features a monstrous protrusion emerging from the ground, with its lower end displaying countless tiny facets.

    While remaining faithful to his materials, the artist subverts them: the heavy, angular "lower" section contrasts with the smooth, rounded "upper" in "Up and Down"; the horizontal wave rhythm in "Bump" and the rough, vertically cut stone surface form two sides of a single entity. Meanwhile, the elongated, granular black beans and oval, smooth white jade in "Black Beans and Stone" juxtapose with the twisted, stretchy hemp rope and glossy, hard marble in "Rope and Stone," creating a dual confrontation.

    — Excerpt from Li Mingming, former Director of the Institute of Art Studies at National Central University, "Between Expression and Presentation"

  • The Tension of Space

    Some works titled "Between" (Between), It can be best be used to simply explain LAI CHI MAN's sensitivity to the tension transfer between the empty and the surface: or full or comfortable organic round shape, A V-shaped groove is constantly sharpened in different parts, Thinking of the graceful arc that the Italian painter Feng Tana (Lucio Fontana) cut on the canvas with a razor, The accuracy, clarity and destruction of the scalpel blade, To give new meaning to the things that Qin knew well, If the seed is dead, the new plant bud, Part of oneself is ready to accept things other than oneself: these sharp cuts are brought by LAI CHI MAN, It must be like a corner of the organic shape, Or the intense joy of Hepuos's piercing in the stone, The opposite concept of "presence", "movement" and "life and death" is not unique to Chinese people.

    — Huang Handi, a painter and art critic

  • The "Relationship" thinking

    In LAI CHI MAN's works, one can observe two parallel approaches. The first employs a single material to explore life's transformations and growth patterns, while the second combines contrasting elements to create conceptual or semiotic impacts. Through this cyclical interplay between these methods, Li's sculptural art achieves profound depth. This dynamic interplay ultimately coexists, imbuing his works with layered significance. Thus, the core theme of Li's creations revolves around the contemplation of "intermittence" (jian), as it is grounded in relational thinking. When viewed through this lens, objects cease to be static entities but become living, unified forms that constantly transition between states, perpetually evolving with vitality.

    — Excerpt from Minmei Feng's "LAI CHI MAN's Calm Progress"

  • Dream subject

    Inspired by Daoist metaphysics of the interdependence between being and non-being, LAI CHI MAN first developed poetic forms before evolving into landscape compositions that celebrate the earth's boundless freedom. His artistic journey from sculpture to non-sculptural explorations imbues his works with the essence of land art. In recent creations, each piece integrates multiple ready-mades—objects retaining their original creators' identities. When assembled, these elements symbolize the earth's gathering of diverse subjectivities. Ultimately, the land becomes the ultimate destination for all beings, regardless of their origins.

    ──Excerpt from Liao Renyi's "The Return of the Earth: LAI CHI MAN's Landscapes"

  • Sketching and Sculpture

    LAI CHI MAN's sketches serve as conceptual blueprints for his sculptural creations. When appreciating these works, one must engage with the sculptural intent: What formal content is conveyed through the plane? I once analyzed his sketches as a dialectical exploration of spatial concepts, illustrating that "the black circles in sketches – spatial forms inverted into solid masses." In planar vision, "once conceptual dialectics are extended to spatial expression, conceptual inversion appears inevitable. Since spatial configurations lack tangible references, the interplay of void and substance becomes a viable mode of thinking." LAI CHI MAN's sketches reflect spatial imagery. The solid and void in sculpture are inverted through abstract painting language, creating a contrast with physical objects – transforming the tangible into the intangible, and the intangible into the tangible – through black-and-white compositions that dramatize this transformation.

     – Excerpt from Jiang Yanchou's "Reflections of Spatial Imagery"