Having evolved over a period of several thousand years, the art of traditional Chinese ink brush painting had reached a pinnacle of perfection by the Song Dynasty. Subsequently, however, ink brush painting became stylistically hidebound, with an excessive emphasis on imitating the works of ancient masters that effectively precluded innovation. After Western art concepts began to spread to Asia, the ink brush painting tradition found itself in even more dire straits. Since the middle of the Twentieth century, Liu Kuo-sung’s achievements – in terms of the introduction of new ideas and new forms – have exerted a major influence on the development of Chinese ink brush painting, opening up new vistas for this ancient art form, and confirming the importance of ink brush painting within the global history of art. “Universe in My Mind – 2” is a huge ink-on-paper work which Liu Kuosung completed in 1998. Embodying Liu’s unique technical approach, it combines the formal aesthetics of abstract painting and pronounced sense of distance and space characteristic of traditional Chinese landscape painting.

Liu Kuo-sung is at one and the same time a product of the millennia-long Chinese painting tradition, and someone unafraid to innovate by developing a new ink brush painting lexicon for our times. For example, in order to overcome ink brush painting’s excessive dependence on the brush, Liu Kuo-sung spent considerable time and effort developing new ink brush painting techniques, from his early experiments using cleaning-brushes on the “Kuo-sung Paper” that he invented, through the development of his “textured paper technique” and his utilization of collage and spraypainting techniques, to his focus on the development of “water-rubbing” and “ink-splatter” techniques in the period from 1977 onwards; in this way, Liu Kuosung developed a range of creative techniques that were uniquely his own. Even more impressively, besides realizing his creative vision through his art, Liu Kuo-sung was also an active advocate of the modernization of Chinese art in his writings, engaging in impassioned debate in defense of modern forms such as abstract art, and becoming an influential figure not only in Taiwan but also in the wider Overseas Chinese community. Although, given the hostility that existed between Taiwan and China in the latter half of the Twentieth Century, Liu Kuo-sung was for many years unable to engage in dialog with artists in China, either directly or through his writings, his work and his ideas did gradually begin to attract attention and comment in China. As the art historian Hsiao Chong-ray has noted, “Following his first trip back to China in late 1981, two years later Liu Kuo-sung became the first Taiwan-based artist to exhibit in China since 1949. He continued to exhibit there on a regular basis until 1989, helping to stimulate a ‘paradigm shift’ in Chinese painting through the superficially tranquil but internally dynamic nature of his work.” (Hsiao Chong-ray, “The Work of Liu Kuo-sung,” , National Museum of History, Taipei, 1996, p. 258)

A founder member of the Fifth Moon Group art association in the 1950s, Liu Kuo-sung was actively involved in the movement to modernize Chinese traditional painting, and for many years was wary of realist art. However, following his frequent visits to China in the 1980s, where he had the opportunity to travel extensively through China’s imposing natural scenery, from the late 1980s onwards Liu began to paint a series of realist, figurative landscapes. These works are epic in scale, while also displaying Liu Kuo-sung’s unique technical signature; at the same time, however, they seem somehow to deviate from Liu’s otherwise consistent emphasis on modernism. This is particularly obvious in paintings such as “Scenery of Hong Kong” (1987), “Source” (1989), and the series of paintings of Huangshan that Liu completed during the period 1988 – 89. From 1989 onwards, Liu Kuo-sung stopped painting these large, realistic landscapes, and began to focus again on his exploration of the potential of abstract art. The abstract paintings that Liu created after his foray into representational art were even more exquisitely executed than his earlier abstract works. This particular painting, “Universe in My Mind – 2,” is one of Liu Kuosung’s finest works from this period. This huge work, which takes the form of a quadriptych (four-panel screen) almost 3.5 meters wide, is magnificently ambitious. Despite the enormous size of the work, Liu has succeeded in creating the basic structure of the picture in just two brushstrokes, one on each side. The black brushstrokes are highlighted down the middle in indigo, and a wash has been applied using a paibi (a broad brush comprising a row of penshaped brushes). The work also makes use of Liu Kuo-sung’s characteristic “paper-texturing” technique (referred to jokingly by Liu himself as “rippling the tendons and peeling the skin”), which involves tearing the fibers of the paper to create a distinctive, multi-layered texture. “Universe in My Mind – 2” combines wild passion with the beauty and imaginative space of abstract form. The pronounced contrast between the firm brushstrokes and the large areas of blank space reflects the artist’s sublime technical mastery; the contrast between presence and absence creates a sense of immense meaning that is both as awe-inspiring as snow-covered mountain peaks in winter, and as vigorous as the life-force of the cosmos. “Universe in My Mind – 2” uses Liu Kuosung’s unique, and powerfully contemporary artistic lexicon to reflect the traditional East Asian philosophy that man is an integral part of nature, and to take this concept to a new level of Zen-like boundlessness.