I first met A Ding three years ago in his studio where I was viewing his paintings. We chatted quite amiably and I came to learn that he had lived for more than ten years in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau area where he had acquired an in-depth understanding of the local conditions and the people, their villages and their customs, and their spiritual beliefs. A Ding, moreover, involved himself deeply in the people and their customs and beliefs so that this became a world that he directly absorbed both physically and mentally.

 
For this very reason, A Ding considers his artworks as a means to elevate a spiritual discussion with this plateau area. He uses unadorned paintings to depict images of the people of this mystical area. These paintings are none other than spiritual photographs that make faith timeless. Whoever is a subject of this mystical image world is forever bestowed with kindness, and obtains eternal life.

 
After living in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau area, A Ding moved to Xi’an city where he devoted himself to creative work. In this ancient city with an unbroken history, he wanted to paint that sacred land that had fascinated him, calmed him, and left him with no regrets. There are many kinds of existential relationships between humans and the world. Among these relationships, one of the most important is the attribute of faith: do we have convictions and, if so, where do these convictions lead, where do we turn for refuge, what are our sentiments? This is a serious and real topic for the times. Just for this reason, A Ding has been portraying all the living things below these skies of faith for the past several decades on end. These are both portraits of Heaven looking upon its creatures, and also portraits of the mirror images of their self-incarnations.

Strong voices in today’s globalized world call for abandoning material desires, keeping faith, and seeking truth. For those of us caught up in the mundane world, viewing A Ding’s artworks allows us to embrace and practice that which these strong voices are calling for.

Wang Chunchen
February 22, 2014 at the Central Academy of Fine Arts