Inner landscapes in water and ink

For the artist known as Lost Mountain Man, just a few strokes is all it takes to evoke meandering brooks, learned scholars, or gatherings of old friends.

The artist’s light, elemental brushwork—the antithesis of overwrought illustration and design—combines traditional ink painting with modern sensibilities. Traditional Chinese ink paintings usually leave empty space on the scroll, and Lost Mountain Main, fascinated by eastern aesthetics, uses a understated, gentle, pleasantly flowing technique to add a touch of the mystical.

沉浸在忘川山人的水墨世界，寥寥几笔勾勒的画卷里，却是文人墨客，流觞曲水，畅叙幽情。

对比色彩繁芜的插画或设计，忘川山人笔下那氤氲开的淡淡笔触，让传统水墨与现代审美交相融合。自中国古代传承而来的水墨画，则大多都会在卷幅上留白。忘川山人对这样的东方美学很是着迷，含蓄、温润，娓娓道来的手法，让他笔下那氤氲开的淡淡水墨，也仿佛带着些许仙气。

In most of his works, the artist conveys a certain feeling, one that arises from the dialogue between humans and nature and appears at both the individual and the monumental scale. Watercolor and ink compose and rearrange these subtle relationships, creating an intriguing effect. “Ink and watercolor both involve a play between pigment and water. With practice on the page, with long-term perseverance, you can achieve harmony, coordination, and control. All that remains is the emotion you want to give voice to.”

The landscapes in these works are a reflection of the artist’s own idiosyncrasies. “I’ve always felt I lived in a state of utter loneliness,” he says. “I often reflect on the impermanence of the world and the insignificance of human life. Time passes and stillness persists in the boundless universe above me. And in the contrast between the minuscule and the vast, I find an outlook that teaches humility, that teaches reverence.”

在大部分的画作里，他阐述的是某种情感，在人与自然环境对话时产生，在微小的个体或宏伟的场景中普遍存在着。而水彩和水墨，则在对这些微妙关系的梳理与重构中，让画面的表达变得更为有趣。“其实水墨和水彩都是颜料与水的游戏，还是需要多做纸上练习，长期坚持，就会与之产生和谐的默契和把控力，剩下的，只有你想抒发的情感内容了。”

其实画中的世界，也正是他个人意趣的写照：“我始终感觉自己身处巨大的孤独之中，时常念及世事无常，人若草芥，而头上的无边宇宙斗转星移，寂静仍然，我将这种渺小与浩大的事物之间的反差视如一种观照，照见谦卑，照见虔诚。”