如何让水彩画脱离写生习作而具有创作性，一直是中国水彩画界探讨与实践的课题。这种创作性，一方面是指此种被称作轻音乐的绘画能否较深入地表现历史与现实主题，使其能够成为抒写人文思想感情的恢弘而壮阔的交响乐；另一方面则是指这种绘画媒材能否成为时代艺术变革的一种表征，使其能够不断形成真正进入艺术史叙述的艺术个性。蔡瑞蓉吸引人们关注的，正是她不断汲取各种艺术养分尤其是中国民间美术那些先验性图像来形成自己的艺术风貌，并提升水彩画创作力度的艺术探索。

　　她最早受到人们关注的是其所画她身边的都市青年形象。创作于2002年的《午后》以非情节性的两个女性青年形象，展示了后现代社会给予她们富足、时尚、优雅的生活方式。她们凝视观众的瞬间，既呈现了这一代人享受生活的闲适与安逸，也揭示了她们内心世界的某种迷惘与飘然。与我们所熟悉的一些水彩人物写生习作相比，此作具有明确的创作性，但在主题表达方面却又以丰富的意涵改变那些图解主题的形象叙事。尤其让人们感到新异的是，此作在人物形象塑造上，既有巴尔蒂斯的影子，也有画家自己对于造型本体的理解，这种理解让她凸显了并不依赖于图像的造型语言的独特性。作为一幅人物题材的水彩画，此作还努力改变水彩在塑造形象时易于轻薄的短板，通过并非一次性完成的设色方法让画面显得丰富和厚重。她的另一幅《乐郊》（2004）同样描写了她身边的孩童郊外游乐的场景。此作或许也只是日常生活某个并不经意瞬间的撷取，但画家却于此发掘出一位女画家自然流露出的温暖的母爱。作品以夕阳中弥散出的黄褐色统一画面，那些孩童沉浸在温馨的欢愉中。受印象主义光色的影响，画面不仅注重通过冷暖色互用表现出斜阳的光感，而且富有创造性地将沙滩似的背景降暗，使照射在孩童身上的侧光、逆光成为画面的亮点。此作颇富意味，耐人品读。其缘由还在于画家笔触与色彩的处理，画家从不显摆那些在别人看来也许是十分洒脱的笔触，而是尽量让笔触隐藏于形象或光色的塑造之内，复笔与覆盖使画面的色泽与色调呈现出特别沉稳深厚的质地，从而也使母爱主题的表达获得了一种纯真而质朴的艺术境界。

　　水彩画对于历史与现实题材的关切程度，实际上是受制于水彩这种媒材本身的表现能力的，这或许也是蔡瑞蓉不断通过表现题材的扩展用以积累水彩画表现经验的一种尝试。除了画她所熟悉的身边生活（尚有《青春收藏系列》、《少年心事》等），她还尝试画描写藏民宗教生活的《祈福系列》，描绘民族节日盛装的《日子的颜色系列》、《乡间路上系列》等。这些作品注重人物形象的塑造，注重这些少数民族男女老少在不经意之间展露的情态，注重阳光投射在他们身上形成的各种光色的变幻。她努力将这些瞬间形象定格于画面，以此增强水彩语言的表现能力，进而使这些画作进入艺术思考与语言探索的层面。

　　如果说蔡瑞蓉这些表现身边生活、描绘少数民族形象的画作，还只是她探求水彩画表现力的一个过程，那么，真正让她凸显于画坛的则是她自2009年以来相继创作的油画《地底的图案系列》、丝网版画《趋光运动系列》和水彩画《绝代风华系列》与《皮影系列》等。借鉴民间美术元素，历来是中国现代美术回归传统与开拓当代的一条路径，但如何借鉴却因人而异，也因画种而异。蔡瑞蓉在水彩表现皮影方面所获得的突破，也曾先后通过丝网版画、油画的多方尝试来丰富和借鉴。在油画《地底的图案系列》里，她一方面把皮影作为画面物象最基本的造型方式，另一方面又通过具有现代主义平面分割特征的构成来拆解或重组画面，尤其是色彩的配置与色块的穿插完全通过先验性的图式来再造，从而形成了具有中国民族文化表征的现代艺术绘画。作为油画的这一系列作品，因油彩的可操控性而使其在色块与线条、薄敷与厚涂、覆盖与边缘等元素处理上形成某种丰富的变化。丝网版画《趋光运动》着眼于漏版处理皮影的天然性，画作中的许多皮影形象也许并不需要画家重新造型，将皮影原件放置曝光台感光就能够获得许多十分精巧的形象，“趋光运动”其实具有当代艺术的行为与装置色彩。这些各种奇妙而神奇变化的画面灰调，正是皮影在曝光台上趋光运动的结果。而作为丝网版画，从利用现成品曝光到各种灰色版块的形成，也成为此系列绘画最有创意的亮点。

　　笔者以为，油彩的厚重、丝网的敏锐都是蔡瑞蓉拓展其语汇语素，并最终丰富其水彩媒材的《皮影系列》和《绝代风华系列》艺术表现力的学术准备；也只有使用她最熟稔的媒材，她才能真正完成水彩画汲取民间美术进行现代性探索的个性创造。她的《绝代风华系列》既有单体的皮影头部，也有交错的多个影身，但不论哪种，她都能创造出丰厚的画面，使得画面既有皮影造型的印记，也有现代构成与夏加尔、毕加索、米罗等那样奇幻绚丽的色彩，其中又不失水彩之水性与彩性的意味。实际上，皮影造型边线的连贯整洁当完全被转移到平面的画面上时，往往是单调呆板的，蔡瑞蓉这些水彩的丰富意味恰恰是对于这些问题的有效解决。譬如，她的这些边线常常被转化为多个侧面，有时用水墨予以渗化或冲淡，有时用水彩点化或积渍，有时先深后淡，有时先淡再深，从而使其画面呈现出多色层的变化。显然，突破皮影造型那些边线块面，也往往是形成蔡瑞蓉水彩绘画性的有效途径。而她的《皮影系列》无疑是在此基础上一种更大尺度的制作。因尺幅的增大而为她处理更丰蕴的人物组合与水色意趣提供了条件。在此系列里，画家以皮影为基本造型，但也添加了不少京剧人物的脸谱、服饰，不仅使画面色彩更加秾丽，而且也使人物组合因此更富有变化。这些画作的色彩改变了一般水彩画所描绘的条件光色，而凸显了具有中国民间传统色彩意味的主观表现性，并大胆汲取了中国画的水墨因素，除了出现较多区域的温润的水墨，甚至于在许多色彩里兑入了墨的成分，使画面显得愈加润泽、幽深、玄谧和沉着。

　　作为一位水彩画家，蔡瑞蓉的绘画少不了对于花卉与风景的描绘，这也许是水彩画家必备的手头硬功底。与那些局限于现场写生的花卉与风景不同，蔡瑞蓉的花卉与风景也具有一定的创作性特质，她不是一次性地通过写生去完成那些花卉与风景，而往往是以工作室的反复构思来凸显那些花卉与风景的创作个性。譬如，2006至2009年创作的《有红花布的静物系列》，把民间最喜庆的红绿牡丹大花作为画面青花瓷、布老虎、鲜莲蓬的构成要素。她对于这块花布的设置，其实就是对皮影先验视觉形式的一种延续，是民间美术在她水彩画内的激活。而《鸡冠花系列》也在于改变其写生的即兴性特征，构图的非现场感与色彩的沉暗都赋予画面以某种象征性。再譬如，《南溪农院系列》、《大港头系列》等，就汲取了波纳尔将形象打散而以点状色块重构画面的方式。画面里描写的天空、院落与树木完全统一于绿中带墨、蓝里透墨的色调，丛林掩映的农居也改变了江南乡村粉墙黛瓦的色彩格局，而以和丛林相似的色相与色块来重组。她把画面所有的物象都分解为圆而小的点状笔触，既便于积彩增添色彩层次，也利于塑造的深入、意境的营造。像《大港头系列》，正得益于这种画法而使画面即便是光感极强的淡灰色调，也能够画得深入而富有冷暖色的微妙变幻。蔡瑞蓉也有水性特别温润的风景，像画于2011年《三垟湿地系列》，就属于常见的“水中作业”的水彩风景；但画家通过模糊物象，使画面里三垟湿地的民居表现都被朦胧的晨霭所笼罩，从而也改变了一般水彩风景的那种小品性。尤其是在用色上，画家总是适度在水色里添加少许的墨色，使画面色彩显得十分的稳重与厚实，似乎是赋予现实风景以心理的暗示。

　　总之，在当代水彩画家中，蔡瑞蓉是从文人水墨、民间皮影里不断汲取中国元素的探索者，她从不满足于一挥而就酣畅淋漓的水彩画法，也不尚那些精巧而浮华的水色韵味或率性洒脱的笔触，而试图用拙朴的笔意、沉暗的水色、先验的图式来捕捉她心底里的意象，在贯常于印象光色的水性述写里融入文人水墨与乡土美术的质感，从而使她的这些水彩进入创作的理念与个性的创造。在笔者看来，她曾把自己从皮影形象生发出的作品称作“地底的图案”，正是她自己水彩艺术个性的一种象征。因为她改变了那些靓丽俊俏的表象描绘，而使水彩媒材进入先验的意念表现，而来自乡土的民间美术恰恰是她先验视觉的源泉，她在水彩艺术领域的个性诉求正可谓民族文化的“地底的图像”。

尚辉 中国美协理论委员会副主任、《美术》主编

　　2016年8月4日于北京22院街艺术区

Underground Patterns

--Of Transcendentality Rooted in Cai Ruirong's Artistic Personality

　　How to imbue watercolor with creativity by separating it from the sketches has been a long-discussed and experimented topic among watercolor artists in China. On the one hand, the creativity of watercolor concerns the possibility of this light-music-like art form to explore more in depth into the themes of history and reality, thus making it possible to be the "grand symphonies" that depict and express grand and complex human and cultural feelings. On the other hand, it concerns the possibility of this sort of painting to become a symbol of art revolution in modern times and further creates unique artistic personality that can be recorded in the annals of art. Cai Ruirong's artistic probe of developing her own style and discovering creative source of watercolor by absorbing nutrients from the soil of Chinese folk art, especially the transcendent images from Chinese folk fine arts, are the things that interest and impress her audience most.

　　In the very beginning, it was her paintings about urban youth that made her distinguished from the crowed. Through her non-plot portraying of two young women in the artwork Afternoon created in 2002, she provided a snapshot of abundant, trendy, and elegant lifestyle in the post-modern society. The captured moment of their gaze on the audiences showed a life of leisure but also a sense of confusion and "no spiritual destination". Compared with other watercolor figure paintings that we are familiar with, this artwork are highly creative that she changed the graphic-thematic image narration with abundant implications in theme expression. Most impressive of all, the creation of figures in this art piece integrates the style of Balthus with her own understanding of the subject that gives prominence to her unique modeling language that does not rely on graphic design. Afternoon, a watercolor painting based on human figures, manages to overcome the defects of shallow and light expression in watercolors by creating real and exact characters through coloring the picture in different tints, which also endues plenty of connotation for the images.

　　Coincidentally, another piece Play in the Field (2004) also depicts some children who plays in the suburb. It can be seen as a casual moment in daily life, but she successfully captures the natural language of motherhood. With a yellowish-brown sunset providing the backdrop, it is like a summit of all joy for the children. Influenced by impressionistic style, she only uses the combination of cold and warm color to make the space filled with fingers of tawny light of the setting sun that reaches across the sky, and creatively dims the light of background so as to highlight the sidelight and backlight of the children figures, both of which makes up the rich implications of this painting. All these together provided this art piece with in-depth meaning and enduring charm. Furthermore, her mastery of color and brush stroke/brushwork sets her apart from other painters. She likes to hide her brush stroke in the depiction of figures and colors instead of showing it off that is may appear bold and unrestrained in the eyes of others. Layered touches and repeated coverage can make the picture more elegant and classical, and also helps reveal the meanings of the theme, namely, to create an aesthetic world that is filled with unsophisticated and pure feelings of motherly love.

　　Touches of Watercolor painters on historical and realistic themes are indeed limited by the expressiveness of the media material itself. This might enconrage Cai Ruirong to reinforce the pictures' expressive force by enriching the expressiveness of watercolor themes. In addition to some of her artworks about daily life (for example, Youth Collection series and Kids' Dream, etc. ), she also manages to create art pieces depicting scenes of Tibetans' religious life such as Pray series, and people's costumes in ethnic festival ceremonies such as Color of Life and Walking in the Country Road. Cai focuses on the image-shaping and successfully captures the natural facial expressions of these minorities and highlights the cross of light and color when the sun shines on their bodies. She strives to set these transient moments into a variable artistic picture, so as to enhance the expressiveness of watercolor language and further reach the level of language exploration and artistic thinking.

　　If we consider her paintings themed by daily life and minorities to be experiment and intermedia of her journey to seek the expressiveness of watercolor, then the artworks she created after 2009, such as oil paintings Patterns Underground, silkscreen printings Phototaxis movement, watercolor paintings The Unsurpassed Beauty and Shadow Play, contributed to her success in the art world. Actively learning from folk fine arts has always been a good ideal for Chinese painters to revive traditional art and open up a new path for the development of modern art. But the ways and approaches might vary with different artists and different sort of paintings. Before making breakthrough in "watercolor shadow play", Mrs. Cai also tried silkscreen printings and oil printings with the attempt to seek inspiration and experiences. One the one hand, in Patterns Underground, she took figures in shadow play as the base of image-shaping, while using plane segmenting method with modernistic style to disassemble and recombine the images, especially the color collocation and interlacing of color-blocks were fully reconstituted by transcendent images. In that way, she developed her own style of modern painting art that possesses the characteristic of Chinese ethnic culture. And the flexible use of oil color brings rich variation of many artistic elements in this series of paintings such as color-blocks, lines, thickness and overlaying of colors, edge of images, etc. On the other hand, in silkscreen printings Phototaxis movement, she kept the natural features of stencil printing, which means many images in shadow play don't necessarily to be reshaped by the painter and delicate images can also be easily available through processing shadow play puppets with lighting apparatus. Those wonderful and various gray images were actually derived from the "puppets' phototaxis movement" under the lighting apparatus, which contained the behavioral and apparatuses' characteristics of modern art. The exposure processing of puppets and the formation of all gray color-blocks became the most creative design in this series of works as silkscreen printings.

　　In my opinion, the richess of oil painting and the detail performance of silkscreen printing are just the academic preparations for Mrs. Cai to expand the vocabularies of fine art and at last perfect the artistic expression of watercolor in her artworks of Shadow Play and The Unsurpassed Beauty. Only with the most familiar type of media material can she really finish her creative work of modernize the watercolor paintings by learning from folk fine arts. In The Unsurpassed Beauty series, you can find single shadow play puppet with just a head in some pieces, but in others you can see several images overlapping with each other. Whatever the form is, she has the power to provide each art piece with plentiful contents, which contain the features of shadow play anel the dazzling colors often used by modernistic painters like Chagall, Picasso and Joan Miró, while miantaining the tenderness and richness of watercolor. In fact, when the shadow puppets of coherent edge-lines is transferred onto planar space, the images may look dumb and bland. But she solved this problem by the flexible use of colors. Her favorite tactic is to convert the edge-lines into several facets by blurring them with different shades of colors, using infiltration and dilution techniques of ink and wash painting or pointlilization or accumulation of watercolors at times with the sequences from thick to light or vice versa. With these methods, she can present different color tints in the picture. Apparently, her breakthrough in dealing with the stark silhouettes of shadow puppets also provides an effective way to develop her unique painting style of watercolor. Her artworks of Shadow Play were exactly the magnum opus based on that tactic. The bigger size makes it easier for her to depict more combinations of characters and enrich the contents. In this series, the painter took shadow play as the source of inspiration and added some elements of Beijing opera, such as facial makeup and costumes, which not only made the picture more brilliant and colorful, but also endowed the figures with the beauty of variety. The flexible use of colors in these works has changed the photochromic effect that we commonly see in other watercolor paintings and meanwhile highlighted the subjective expression of Chinese traditional culture. It has boldly borrowed the features of Chinese ink-wash painting. Not only did she depict many areas with watery ink, but also mixed it into other colors, so as to make the painting more glossy, gloomy, abstract and profound.

　　As a watercolor painter, Cai has created a lot of art pieces about flowers and landscapes that demonstrated her fine skills as a great artists. Unlike the onsite painting about flowers and landscapes, she likes to put creativity into her works in these areas. Instead of completing the sketch by one time, she always tries to endow the flowers and landscapes that she painted with creative features by designing the composition of a painting over and over again in the studio. For example, in Still Life Painting with Red Flowered Cloth (2006-2009), she used cloths printed with red peonies and green leaves, blue and white porcelain, cloth tiger and seedpod of lotus as the essential components. The composition of this art piece is the continuation of the transcendentalism of visual arts used in the Shadow Play series and represents the demonstration of beauty of folk fine arts in her art works. And in Cockscomb Flower series, she changes the improvisational representation of the sketches. With no "live feeling" of works that other artists put their emphasis on, the dark colors just endued the picture with some symbolic meanings in a sense. Another examples are the Nanxi Village Yard and Dagangtou, in which we can see the style of Pierre Bonnard that breaks up the images and recombines them with spots of colors. The sky, yard and trees are harmoniously unified in a background of deep green and deep blue. Quite unlike those decorated by white walls and black tiles in Chinese southern rural areas, the farmhouses shaded by tress in the picture are depicted by the painter with similar colors of the woods. She disassembles all the images into numerous round spots, because in that way it is convenient to get the results of abundant color gradation, making the image-shaping better and creating the artistic conception. In Dagangtou series, the characteristics of this drawing skill has been fully displayed. Though the whole pictures are dominated by gray tones, we still can feel the subtle changes of colors and profound implications that are very conspicuous in those painted by plentiful cool and warm colors. Not only do her still life paintings look unique, her landscape paintings also bring a sense of grace and tenderness. For example, her artworks of Sanyang Wetland (2011) are typical watercolor landscape painting that are normally refers to as "art pieces of objects in the water". However, she blurs the images by making folk houses in Sanyang Wetland covered in the mist to create some kinds of hazy feelings, which has changed the small scale lifelike style of conventional landscape paintings. And to develop her elegant and classical painting style, she likes to mix a little ink into the watercolor, as if she is trying to provoke some psychological hints of the audience of this art piece.

　　In conclusion, among the contemporary artists, Cai Ruirong is an unique pathfinder who strives to take in the beneficial elements of Chinese traditional arts such as ink painting and shadow play. She is neither content with the ways that finish a piece of watercolor painting in an instant time, nor fond of gaudy patterns and unrestrained styles. In fact, she wants to capture those icons from the bottom of her heart by the utilization of simple drawing style, dark ink colors and apriori images, while integrating the essence of Chinese ink painting and folk fine arts together into her artistic language, so that she could empower her watercolor paintings with creative ideas and creative personality. She used to call her works inspired by the shadow play "patterns underground". But in my opinion, it was actually a symbol of her unique artistic individuality. Because she goes beyond the delicate depiction of semblance, using apriori images to embody the charm of watercolor. And coincidentally, the folk fine arts just become the inspiration source of apriority at that time, and we could say that her pursuit for the individualization of watercolor is indeed the "patterns underground" of Chinese culture.

August 4th, 2016, NO.22 Beijing Art Zone, Apple Community, No.32 Baiziwan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China

Shang Hui

Deputy Director of Commission on Theoretical Study in China Artists Association, Chief Editor of Art Magazine