Shu Sung Wan
Shu Sung Wan, known as Mr. Bamboo Bag, is a modern painter, calligrapher, poet, and practitioner. Born in 1956 in Hong Kong and originally from Foshan in Nanhai, he developed a deep passion for painting and calligraphy from a young age. After studying in Canada during high school, he graduated from the University of Guelph in Ontario in 1980 with a degree in Fine Arts. Upon returning to Hong Kong, he embarked on a diverse artistic career, teaching various art courses at universities and night classes.
Since 1985, Master Shu has embraced a vegetarian lifestyle, dedicating himself to spiritual practice for 40 years. Over the years, he has received numerous awards in Hong Kong, New York, and the UK, and in the millennium year, he was selected for the Outstanding Artists Yearbook of Cambridge in the UK, becoming one of the 2,000 most outstanding artists in the world for the 21st century. His works are collected by institutions such as the Hong Kong Cultural Museum, Taiwan Association, Shaolin Temple, and Linggu Temple in Nanjing. Recently, his works have garnered international appreciation, with collectors from the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, India, and regions in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
To promote artistic culture, Master Shu tirelessly seeks knowledge, traveling between Eastern and Western cultural capitals to hold solo and group exhibitions, participate in television and radio programs, and engage in interviews with newspapers and magazines, earning widespread attention and affection from various circles. In 2017, he founded the Sea Star Art Association to regularly host exhibitions of adult, children’s, and international artworks. He also established the Happy Fund to simultaneously develop charitable work, helping those in need and spreading hope and joy through various activities, fostering social harmony. Master Shu loves to convey teachings through his paintings, using exhibitions as platforms to enlighten minds, promote vegetarianism for health, share positive living through daily writings, inspire souls through poetry, offer solutions through conversation, and guide others to rediscover their true selves through mindful breathing.
The most captivating aspect of Shu Chongyun’s works lies in their exquisite elegance and serene beauty. His diverse themes draw upon the energies of heaven and earth, creating a unique style that skillfully blends elements such as pencil, calligraphy, relief, meticulous painting, and color. Before painting, he meditates, allowing his creativity to flow with layers and a sense of space, embodying the simplicity of Eastern charm and the beauty of Western color. Each stroke is delicate and tranquil, bold and expressive, intricately carved with intention, revealing layers within layers, portraying the infinite through the finite. With the experiences and circumstances of life, each brushstroke reflects the rhythm of the universe and life, guiding energy and imbuing his works with the power to purify and evoke emotions.
Prologue to the Artwork
The journey of creation begins with an inner purification of the heart.
Externally, starting with water
First, let the water listen to your breath. Then, using water as the foundation, mix it with paint, allowing the water to observe each stroke you make, moving to the natural rhythm. Water serves as a conductor, recognizing the feelings of your life. In this process, grounded in gratitude, the heart expresses your current temperament and emotional state, captured in color.
Internally, beginning with the water within
The energy fields of atoms, neutrons, protons, particles, and molecules are referred to as “essence.” Combined, they form “Qi.” Though they may appear solid, they can flow and act as a conductor of vibrational frequencies. Merging these primal frequencies brings forth the “breath” of life, resonating with the universe’s frequency, freely emanating through the body, known as “spirit.”
The combination of internal and external water represents “movement within stillness.”
Yin within Yang, Yang within Yin—transforming the light within into colors blended with water allows feelings or emotions to solidify in the rearranged color particles. The stillness within movement connects the emotional system, leading us into deeper layers of the unconscious, liberating us into the space of light, transforming essence into an energy field.
The works not only possess aesthetic value but can also guide energy, gradually solidifying into forms. They embellish the presentation of people and events, generating a calming effect and stirring emotions!
