「Look at the Picture and Talk about the Painting」Kang Jianyi views the world with a “Layered Hearts”, with the present moment mirroring the distant future

There is no such thing as “Aranya” in the world. It is only at the intersection of thoughts that an ideal realm is formed.

In the serene and contemplative atmosphere of “Jian Shan Ben Yuan” in Sanya, artist Kang Jianyi used 23 works from the “Aranya” series to initiate a visual practice on “the concretization of abstract symbols”.

The core of the “Layered Hearts” exhibition lies in the word “Layered”. Kang Jianyi has used the abstract visual symbols representing Aranya in a series of layered colors and brushstrokes to visually represent the constantly surging “thoughts” in reality. The interweaving of the intense contrasting colors and the calmness of the ink lines creates a layered visual effect, which precisely depicts the continuous flow of thoughts that people pursue in their pursuit of a better life.

Kang Jianyi drew upon the wisdom of “The past mind cannot be grasped, the present mind cannot be grasped, and the future mind cannot be grasped” from the “Diamond Sutra” to integrate Aranya’s worldly and proactive pursuit with the transcendent awareness of “Layered Hearts”. Guided by the Zen state of “Seeing the mountain as the mountain”, the audience observed in the layered colors, and although the pursuit was like a dream or an illusion, if they could recognize that “Layered Heart is actually an empty heart”, they could achieve the harmonious unity of the mundane and the transcendent in the present moment.

Kang Jianyi’s works convey a transcendent yearning: there is no fixed method, creation is endless. When the mind layers upon layers, there is no need to search far away; this place, this moment, this heart, the present moment is already the distant place.

The tea for today is all gone. Next time, I’ll brew a fresh pot and enjoy art with you again.