Gulistan Art 古丽·斯坦

by Stone

Numerous wise philosophers are concerned about the present time in which the material world demonstrates a super-authentic quality and flaunting adjacent distances with narcissism from which the perspective for the poetry of vision and soul is nowhere to be found.

However, Gulistan presents an abstract world transcending secular life and explores a space of cruising vision and expecting soul with the images in her paintings. Such images, which cannot be achieved with mechanical methods, are like floating above one’s soul.

In her works, there is no shock of “cruel youth” or strategy of “videoed existence”. Not self-expressionist like slogans and unrelated to bitter wandering or self-exile, her painted works are filled with faint colors, vague images, gleaming lines and unconscious or occasional traces, which are separated from the hilarious reality and naked ideas with a big gap, being as if an old memory is flashing in one’s mind.

No matter how old she becomes, perhaps there will always be a nook in her heart for the moment when she entered dance school as a child. Outside the window the sun is shining in her hometown Sinkiang, with notes flowing in the air and a giant piano arrogantly occupying a corner. In the training room, she practices stretching, further and further day after day as if floating above water.

Such experience in her childhood constructed the imagery of Gulistan’s spiritual homestead, which embraces the objects of nature, poetry, love and meditation. Such a spiritual homestead becomes the spiritual mother of themes which, later on, she encounters or intentionally catches on the blank canvas from time to time. Each of her works is produced with “the impulse to seek her homestead by such nostalgia”. Free stretching was replaced by the oil painting brush: with the brush, she is tentatively exploring a world of mystery, hoping to meet divinities to find solace for a fragile soul.

Therefore, Gulistan is infatuated with the sensory world and beauty, pondering on her growing of song, dance and music and missing and cherishing the memory of the primitive state of body and mind. However, Gulistan feels a tension from the imbalanced living space in the metropolis, where excess pursuit of wealth and speed are prevalent. A tensile force is created by the contradiction between spiritual needs and physical reality. Instead of propelling her passively to cancel her “present” position to merely call on the memory of the transient and finite past, the tension serves as an activator for blending her “memory” and current experience of existence and make them flourish.

In the series of Where Are We Going, Gulistan calls on the dancing shoes from her memory. The pompous style and decoration of the shoes seem to originate from the Western European singing and dancing opera which she used to watch and still fancies. The image of the dancing shoes not only arouses the poetry of the line “In festivals, brown-colored women are walking on the splendid ground…” but also poses the classical questions: “Who are we?” “Where are we from?” “Where are we going?”. Such cultural reflections, which also belong to the global age of consumption, imply Gulistan’s anxiety for the vagrancy of culture. Mottled texture of paintings, traces of unrepeatable encounters, spots and lines like letters, are all her personal possessions. Generated from the bottom of her heart, the symbols, like notes, constitute her unique language system. Different from the stand of aestheticism that art and life absolutely conflict with each other, Gulistan manages to avoid being hurt by the captivating illusionary scenes and “rhymes” blemished by malicious intention with her elegant narrative rhetoric, meanwhile keeping a secret passage for the soul pervading anywhere.

The Essence of Memory, Contemplating the Middle Ages and About Time are Gulistan’s important painting series. These serially published paper works, emerging in the electronic world where hand-written letters have passed on, are a delicate metaphor by themselves. The presence of paper brings a sense of mystery: with creased paper or paper books of plural forms in hand, one feels the void in the gloom light. In the Contemplating the Middle Ages series, there is also an illusion of a Gothic church and the vague creased gowns of monks. The revelation and meaning are similar to that of a religion, which she indicates is like a myth in dreams and illusions. It is not difficult to trace these pages and the sculpting and rhyme of hands back to the works of masters in the earlier Renaissance such as Giotto and Francesco. In terms of the origin of the drawing style “vagueness and reality mutually exist, traceless lines make marvelous spots”, it can be found in the Chinese traditional art. The series Nuwa’s Dress and The Latest Works are filled with fascinating images such as clubs on broken branches, blue-flowered porcelains, paintings of legislators with traditional themes, folk vessels, murals and myths in regions such as Sinkiang and Dunhuang. These numerous and complicated images are merely the encounters in her unfettered spiritual travel. Only when they are understood with the elegance of her deeply rooted culture considered, can these images become so sensitive and charming.

Just like her mixed bloodline of Uyghur and Han nationalities, the bloodline of the images in Gulistan’s painted works are mingled, with each image being freely applied. Gulistan travels among symbols of different cultures. Just like playing a game, she apprehends and juxtaposes these symbols at will. The personal taste faintly revealed in her works illustrates her exclaiming curiosity and innocence about the world. She is intoxicated with the soundless dance on the canvas, modest and low-profile. The floating images are but a hint, “…moreover, since the ancient times, the languages of the gods have been hints”.

Translated by Gao Liqun

石头

无数有智慧的哲人在为现今这个时代忧虑，因为这个物的世界自恋狂般的展示超级真实的质感，炫耀切近的距离，视觉与心灵的诗意栖居之所已无处找寻了。

Gulistan古丽斯坦却用她的绘画作品捕捉了机械手段无法呈现的形象，这些形象宛如浮动于心灵之上，表达了超越于日常生活之上的抽象世界，开辟了视觉游弋、心灵期待的空间。

她的作品中，没有“青春残酷”的震颤，没有“影像化生存”的策略。她的作品不是口号式的自我表现，与苦涩的彷徨、自我放逐也没有关系。在她的作品中，幽微的淡淡色彩、暧昧模糊的形象，若隐若现的勾线，无意或偶然的痕迹，与热闹的现实以及赤裸裸的表象之间，隔着一个悠远的距离，仿佛一段浮现的记忆。

也许，不管她的年龄增长了多少，总有一处内心的空间永远留给她童年进舞蹈学校的那一刻。窗外是她歌舞阳光的新疆故乡，空气中流淌着音符，巨大的钢琴傲慢的踞于一隅。练功房里，日复一日，她向更深、更远处伸展肢体，像是漂浮于水上。

这个童年体验构筑了Gulistan古丽斯坦精神家园的意象，在其中，包含了自然之神、诗意、爱和冥思的对象，成为日后，她在画布的虚空中一再有意捕捉或无意邂逅的精神母题。日后的每张创作，都是怀着这种 “乡愁的冲动寻找家园”。油画笔取代了自由伸展的肢体，她向一个神秘的世界试探着伸出画笔，以期能够触碰到神灵，抚慰孱弱的心灵。

所以，她迷恋感性世界和美，回味歌、舞、音乐的成长，怀念身心统一的本真状态。但是，大都市的过分追求效益与速度而失重的生存空间给了Gulistan古丽斯坦挤迫的压力。心灵需求与外部现实之间的矛盾产生了复杂的张力。这种张力并不是消极的驱使她取消“现在”的位置，仅仅对已逝去的、短暂美好的过去怀旧。反而在这个张力的推动下，她的那些“记忆”与当下的生存体验奇异的交融，蓬勃的生长起来。

在《我们要去哪里的》系列作品中，舞鞋被从她的生活记忆里呼唤出来，而舞鞋华丽的式样以及装饰似乎又来源于她刚刚看过，却又意犹未尽的西欧歌舞剧。舞鞋的形象不仅仅唤起了“节日里，棕色的女人在行走，在锦绣的大地上……”1的诗意，同时也发出了那句经典的提问：“我们是谁？我们从哪里来？我们要到哪里去？”。这个同样属于全球化消费时代的文化反思，也隐喻了Gulistan古丽斯坦对文化漂泊流浪的焦灼忧虑。斑驳的画面肌理，不可重复的偶遇的痕迹，书写似的点、线，是完全属于她个人的，生发于心灵的这些音符一样的符号构筑了她的独特的语言系统。不同于制造艺术与生活绝然对立的唯美主张，通过优雅的叙事修辞，她使自己免予受到迷乱的虚幻景象、被恶意败坏的“灵韵”的伤害。也为四处蔓延的心灵留出了“返乡”的暗道。

《记忆的性质》、《向中世纪致敬》、《有关时间的作品》是古丽·斯坦重要的作品系列。这些一再有书籍纸张出场的系列作品，安静的出现在这个文字世界失落的电子现实中，本身仿佛就是一个精致的隐喻。纸的出场带来一种神秘的气息。手执有折痕的纸或复数形式的纸（书籍），在幽微的光线里凌空虚悬于迷蒙的虚空中。《向中世纪致敬》系列作品中同时还出现了中世纪哥特式教堂的幻影与虚悬的僧侣的多皱折的宽袍。她想要暗示的类宗教般的启示与奥义，像一个隐于梦幻中的谜。但是不难追溯这些书页与手的造型韵味与乔托、弗朗切斯卡等早期文艺复兴大师的渊源。而“虚实相生，无画处皆成妙境”2的图式特点，可以在中国传统艺术中找到她的修辞学的起源。《女娲之服》、《姿态系列》等系列作品中的形象又浮现着折枝梅花、青花瓷器、文人画传统题材、民间器物、新疆、敦煌等地区的壁画、神话……等的旨趣。这些纷繁的形象只是她四海无疆精神游历的邂逅，链接到她个人文化根性的优雅，所以如此敏感、美丽。

一如她的维、汉两族交融的血统，Gulistan古丽斯坦作品中形象的血缘是混杂的，形象的使用是自由的，她游历于不同文化的符号之间，将其自由的挪用、并置，像做一个游戏。她的作品中淡淡流露的纤细的个人触觉，显示了她对这个世界令人惊叹的好奇与天真，所以，她醉心于画布上无声的舞蹈，质朴内敛，浮动的形象只是一个暗示 “……而且，自古以来，诸神的语言就是暗示”。

2007年2月于京北

1 德·海德格尔《荷尔德林诗的阐释》孙周兴 译 商务印书馆2000年12月
2 清·笪重光 《画荃》
3 德·海德格尔《荷尔德林诗的阐释》孙周兴 译 商务印书馆2000年12月

Here is an article about me in Xinmin Evening News:

从心灵走向心灵

——女画家古丽·斯坦讲述她画布上花之国度

古丽·斯坦在维吾尔语中是“花之国度”的意思，看着美丽娇小的她穿着中国红的长裙从绿荫掩映的春天画廊走出来，真让人有种见到花之精灵的错觉。温柔轻软的嗓音，诚恳动人的微笑，还有黑曜石般的眼睛中智慧的光芒，这便是笔者对这名女画家的最初印象。待她将我们引入画廊，看到她的画，我们又对她有了新的认识 ——

乐音，沉淀在画布上

古丽的画很素，无论是色彩还是线条。不像很多先锋画家用色彩的感官冲击震撼受众，她的画安静地摆在那里，似乎沉醉在自己的冥想中。然而那份淡定却能俘虏所有仔细品读这些画作的人。乍看之下的朴拙，其实深蕴着一层层复杂的色彩变化，引人入胜，欲罢不能。“我画画的时候一定会放古典乐，我的创作不能缺少音乐。”古丽深爱着音乐，还有自幼习得的舞蹈，这些都是激发她灵感的触媒，画中的每一笔都糅进了音乐的起伏和舞蹈的灵动，使她的每幅画都承载了厚厚的积淀。她的系列作品中也有很大一部分与音乐、乐器有关，古丽对这些符号特别敏感。如布面油画《海顿的钢琴》，是从一个朋友将要丢弃的照片上得到的灵感。古钢琴模糊的影像在古丽特有的构图和色彩渲染中似乎缓缓倾泻出巴洛克风格的旋律。

符号，凝固时空记忆

中世纪，是古丽神往的时代，黑暗中迸发出光明，狂乱中蕴藏着理性。那时的画家用虔诚的信仰创作，质朴而纯真。后来画者的技巧虽然越来越高超，但在古丽看来，反而缺失了先辈作品的动人气质。“好像一个人佩戴了太多首饰，别人看她，关注的往往是那些首饰而不是这个人本身。”古丽自己就很少修饰，穿着简单利落，她的画也是如此。在创作过程中，她会有意淡化技巧，让画面上的符号接近本真。古丽的《印迹系列》《记忆的性质系列》《行走系列》《有关时间的系列》《向中世纪致敬系列》中都有突出的绘画符号：钢琴、鞋子、手、书本……这些符号的描摹看起来很随意，但古丽却倾注了大量心力，它们是她的学识、她的哲学在画面上的反映，叙述了古丽的记忆和对时空的思考。

画路，修远并快乐着

具有维吾尔血统的女画家，有着自己的审美与创作原则。她随考古队来到人迹罕至的新疆丝路遗迹时，“比看敦煌时更加感动”。很多画家都说在她的画里很明显能体味到西域风情，还有画面和色彩处理上女性独有的细腻。她不愿被贴上单一的“标签”，也不会去追逐所谓的“流行”、“另类”。表面的，乃至符号化的“女性”之类的主题作品很少能给人共鸣与感动。“如果只是把画画作为宣泄或者游戏，那肯定无法表露真心。”古丽是一个用心画画的人。虽然知道艰辛，仍旧义无反顾地选择这条路，关注着心灵本质。她期望以时间为经，空间为纬，找到契合自己一贯风格又能让大家接受的那一点。“从心灵走向心灵……彼此透明。”

记者 黄伟明 实习生 姚伟嘉 文

Here is an another article my exhibition from CN Arts:

“古丽·斯坦2006上海个人展”

今天下午在上海春天画廊开幕

中国艺术品网2006年7月1日报道：“古丽·斯坦2006上海个人展”今天下午在上海春天画廊开幕。 上海美术家协会副主席王劼音、中国艺术品网总经理陈强以及来自各界的来宾参加了展览开幕。

古丽的绘画没有传统油画技法的束缚，没有流行题材的局限，亦没有视觉语言符号化的追求，她似乎是在一个无拘无束，完全自由的境界往来穿梭。这里，承载着她对生命的体验和感悟，在记忆的尘埃中时隐时现，它们是她心象的呈现。

古丽把自己融入画面，任由意念在流逝的时光中潆回，沉积为肌理与色彩的微妙变化，这变化最终蕴集为一个意念的时空。在这无限的时空里她捡拾着记忆的碎片，悉心拂去岁月的尘埃，倾听那无言的诉说，在心灵的最深处与之回应。于是她把时光制成记忆的印签珍藏在画面里，纤弱却不乏顽强，敏感而蕴涵丰富，真实而美好。古丽的画被赋予了生命一般，静静的停留在那里，似乎在等待着被发现……。