你的、我的共同視界－談林桂華創作

文/林宏信

如果你認識現在的林桂華，一身樸實無華，舉手投足俐落優雅的實業家，創業30餘年，拾起畫筆轉而從事自己所熱愛的藝術創作。那是一個深藏在心底多年的夢想，在其創業過程中，也因為業務拓展的關係，年近中年利用工作之餘，在美國學習機構修習繪畫，數年後，在事業站穩腳步、兒女成材後，選擇面對內心壓抑多年的渴望，一頭栽入藝術創作的領域中。是的，她始終把自己當個新人，並期許永保對創作的新鮮感與熱情。

有時聽林桂華說起片段的兒時記憶，敘述中，她彷彿是個局外人，旁觀著兒時原生家庭發生的一切，父親的嚴厲肅穆，鄉下人家老舊、鄉愿的人生觀，傳統台灣家庭中那看似相親相愛，實則藉此互相牽制的狀態⋯⋯。她說，她總是那個站在邊邊角角的孩子，容易被忽略的那個，或許是因為這樣，她可以更冷靜的觀察這一切，培養出對事物獨特的理解能力。〈躲貓貓〉似乎佐證了那個曾經隱身在環境，容易被忽略的歲月，自以為沒人發現，在櫥櫃裡置身事外的聆聽著外圍的動靜，但腳丫子露了餡，成了存在的證據；使用大面積的留白刷塗，與俐落的黑線佔據了大面積的畫布空間，一反傳統的構圖法則，反而更凸顯並引導了視覺動線的下移，停頓在最下方細膩而富有情感的描寫。〈探險者〉一作中，因逆光而導致如剪影般無法辨識臉部、身體細節的孩子，成為適合投射個人情感的容器，金黃灑落的光影，高明地使用大筆觸的刮刀痕跡，巧妙的破除畫面中象徵暗處的藍。〈塗鴉〉裡的兩個孩子一臉的無辜，調皮搗蛋被發現的驚懼與無奈；這些似乎都反映了多數人的兒時記憶；此作整體採用統調冷硬的色面與邊線處理，牆面自由的塗鴉線條，與床面的碎花圖案，反客為主的在畫面跳動著，與人物表情展開對話。林桂華似乎樂於將人物的體感扁平化，使其更容易進行自我投射，也方便觀眾可以自由代入人設。

也許是長期從事貿易工作的關係，頻繁的社交活動也自然成為她生活中的一環，因而培養出對於人際關係的敏感度，社交活動也因此成為她的重要的創作元素。而隨著年紀的增長，工作的轉換（從事業體退出，轉而專職創作），有更多的時間享受家庭生活，「日常」成為她重點觀察的對象，在平凡無奇的日子裡拾遺著。在這一系列創作中，那些家庭相簿、生活切片、聚會玩樂的照片素材，畫面之外的拍攝者－林桂華，似乎也正置身事外的旁觀著這一切的發生。〈快照〉忠實地傳達3C時代的用餐習慣，手機分擔了嘴巴品嚐美食的功能，人們在社群網路上製造了鋪天蓋地的美食照片，成了這時代的一抹風景。〈時光隧道〉一作著重在描寫桌面上用罄的食物與餐具，來表現宴會的杯觥交雜，有別於許多描寫社交的作品，專注於人物動態關係的描寫，被刻意平面化的人物，反倒成了畫面的配角。〈上學〉、〈初識〉、〈爸爸餵寶寶〉、〈舒適〉⋯⋯等，可窺見創作者溫暖感性的另一面，是面對人生另一階段的全新體驗；省略過多的細節描寫，乾淨的大色面與統一的主色調使畫面略顯冷靜，在在揭示旁觀者的視角，創作者似乎刻意的使自己置身事外，一種不想因寵溺而介入下一代教養的態度展現，然而畫中人物面部少量的表情，卻洩漏了最深處的情感。林桂華冷靜的解析能力，從畫作中層層疊疊的顏料層中可窺見一二，那看似隨性而至的潑灑、刮塗、堆疊，實則經過腦中快速的運算，建構在被型版匡限的範圍內，一種在可控狀態下被允許的失控。卡點西德透明膜，反覆切割形成一層層的型版，再透過針筒擠壓顏料至畫面，或透過刮板、滾筒、刮刀刮塗顏料，製造出類似版畫套印的效果，異於使用畫筆描繪的獨特肌理。選擇透明模板，在於方便考量與底色的搭配，使創作者在可視的狀況下，允許隨興的動作。

細觀林桂華作品，諸如：〈漫遊〉、〈留影（二）〉、〈亢奮〉、〈專注〉、〈唯一〉、〈加油〉、〈塗鴉〉等作品中，人物均以類似簍空、反白的形式呈現，是否揭示著自身成長經驗中某些記憶的缺失？畫面中僅見彩色的背景，以及繽紛的螢幕畫面，吸引著畫中人的目光，也引導著賞畫觀眾的聚焦，似乎將人物從畫面中退位了，但實則不然，退一步看，大面積的留白反而與背景的高彩度產生衝突，逆反成為不可輕易從視覺中抹除的焦點。人物沒有過多的姿態、身體語言，千篇壹律的保持著緊盯著螢幕的姿態，即便是懞懂的幼兒，也看得目不轉睛，「低頭族」成了時下人類的標籤，家庭、朋友聚會低頭看手機也成了今日的時代景觀，令人不禁想到英國藝術家理查德．漢密爾頓（Richard Hamilton, ，1922~2011）1956年的拼貼作品《是什麽使今天的家庭如此不同，如此具有魅力？》（Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?），一樣描寫並探討新科技的普及誘使人類生活型態產生改變，但不同於波普藝術戲謔荒誕的形式，林桂華親身參與其中，以拍攝記錄者的角度觀察著這一切，並忠實地描繪著畫中景物、人物的輪廓，但輪廓也僅是利用照片再現的根據，光影、體感、固有色等具象寫實繪畫的元素，卻被抽離了，置換成畫家主觀的色調。有趣的是，型版造成的剪影硬邊輪廓，與漢彌爾頓慣用的影像（廣告、雜誌照片）拼貼有著異曲同工的視覺感受，兩者作品對於人類生活型態、社會現象的觀察，對藝術求新求異的精神同樣衝擊人們的心靈。

此次的系列作品，含括家庭生活、友人聚會、活動隨拍、行路所見，畫中人物無一例外地沈浸於3C產品的使用，觀看著手機、iPad、電腦中的畫面無法自拔，3C成癮是現代人的通病，「108年持有手機民眾數位機會調查」依國家通訊傳播委員會公佈的行動通信網路業務調查結果發現：「我國手機族曾透過手機上網的比率持續攀升，比率從 100 年的 35.3% 大幅成長為 107 年的 88.2%後，今年再略增為 89.8% 」，網路成為大多數人獲取資訊、生活娛樂的主要管道，自媒體、社群軟體的發達，入口網站多功能與便利性，也使我們可以輕易地閱覽大部分的網站資訊，我們可以閱覽一樣的視頻，觀看一樣的影像，一樣的視覺感官體驗，擁有共同的「視界」，人類似乎透過手機、網路重建了屬於今日的「巴別塔」，視覺經驗搭建出共通的語言。林桂華創作中，很清楚的呈現視窗對於人們的吸引，將他對於今日生活與社會現象的觀察，透過顏料再現於畫布（框）這個自古以來畫家不斷深耕的「窗」之上，層層疊疊、穿插游移的高彩度色調，一如面對螢幕的多彩絢麗，可以這麼說，林桂華創造了另一個螢幕視窗，攝入裡頭的，是一個個聚精會神盯著小螢幕的人們，而觀看他作品的觀眾，只是另一群盯著大螢幕的看客。

前述作品多來自關於3C現象下人類社會樣態的觀注，以及對於社交活動、生活圈的深刻觀察，作品中仍舊保存一定敘事性與傳統具象繪畫原則。而林桂華2023年的新作可說是一頭栽進了人物畫的範疇，並開發出獨有的創作語彙；像是精心籌劃多時、並且經過大量前置演練的盛宴，表現形式也從過往系列的諸多試驗中不斷提純。在《兒童系列》與《嬉戲系列》，她更進一步聚焦於人物的姿態，並將互動狀態獨立出來，捨棄無關緊要的背景。兒童嬉戲中的身影，有別於成年人經過社會馴化後的造作體態，那種不受規範的自在，或許是來自潛藏於心的叛逆與童趣。人物動態被隨機捕捉並重新組構，不對稱的、肆意的比例安排，打破了空間與透視原則；光線與人物的量體感被刮塗層疊的色彩取代，僅保留人物的外形牽引視覺動線，再藉由理性的、平塗的反白背景，構成「負形空間Negative Space」，用以框限奔放的刷塗與隨意滴流的自動性技法。值得一提的是，金屬色在這裡被大膽地採用，瑰麗卻又不顯突兀，顯見創作者於色彩運用的純熟。大量的疊影、扁平化的人物以及連續性的動作，仿若畫面中繁複的符碼，「圖地反轉Figure–ground Illusion」的概念被巧妙地運用於作品之中。當傳統具象繪畫的元素被屏棄，使得作品更貼近繪畫自身的探索，透過形象、構成、筆觸、色彩、肌理⋯⋯，去推敲繪畫是什麼？這也是當繪畫/畫家走到一個境地後的自我探問。

透過一次又一次的對談，與長期對林桂華作品的觀察，我看到一位藝術家創作脈絡在不斷梳理下的清晰，以及發現新大陸般的喜悅，更加顯而易見的，是其對於「人物畫」的執念。每每參觀其工作室，總能見到她那難掩的熱切，像個初次擔綱盛宴的大廚，不斷推出色香味俱全的菜餚，目不暇給又精采無比的新作如雨後春筍，足見其創作能量迸發的強大。林桂華總是勇於嚐試與創新，不自限於過往的習慣與積累，對她而言，重複相同的創作形式是枯燥與難以忍受的，另一方面卻又規律的像個朝九晚五的上班族，日復一日辛勤的、反覆的實踐著她所信仰的繪畫，創作者當如是。

Our Collective Visual Experience ─ Insights into LIN Kuei-Hua’s Artistic Creation

by LIN Hung-Hsin

When you meet Lin Kuei-Hua today, you encounter an elegant lady with an air of efficiency about her. With more than 30 years of business experience behind her, she picked up paintbrushes and pivoted her pursuit to art, her long-hidden passion. During her business career, she was based in the United States for some time and used the opportunity to study painting at a community college. Years later, when business was stable and her children had grown up, Lin made the choice to unleash her suppressed desire for artistic expressions and threw herself wholeheartedly into painting. Although Lin’s present socioeconomic conditions may evoke that of la grande bourgeoisie post-industrial revolution, she most closely embodies a fervent new talent with insatiable thirst for experimentation.

Every now and then, when Lin recounts her childhood, she seems to adopt the perspective of an outsider, cooly observing her own family from a distance. She reflects on her father’s strict and serious demeanor, the traditional and conservative values in rural households, and the ostensibly family-above-all-else yet controlling and co-dependent reality of her traditional Taiwanese family. Lin confides that she felt like the odd one out, often overlooked and easily forgotten. However, it might have been this sense of detachment that sharpened her powers of observation and shaped her understanding of the world around her. Hide and Seek appears as testament to those years when she was often overlooked within her own household. Thinking that nobody would notice, she secluded herself inside the closet, quietly listening to the activities around her. However, her exposed feet served as proof of her existence. The extensive use of blank space, combined with sharp black lines, dominates a substantial portion of the canvas, challenging conventional rules of composition. The effect places an emphasis on the lowermost area of the painting, which delicately and emotionally depicts the scene. In The Adventurer, a child is backlit, rendering the facial features and body parts unrecognizable. This silhouette functions as a vessel for individual emotional projections. Golden light scatters across the canvas and through use of bold, scraped strokes, Lin skillfully breaks up the blue shades that represent shadow in the composition. In Graffiti, the innocent expressions of the two children are a mixture of fear and helplessness as they were caught in the act. These are moments that many of us have experienced in childhood. The scene is depicted in cool tones and harsh outlines while the contrasting free doodles on the wall, in concert with the floral linen, spring forward and take center stage. As the viewer moves his/her gaze from one element to the other, a dialogue commences. Lin seems to prefer flattening the figures’ physical attributes, thereby inviting projections on the part of the viewer. This enables free association of a personal narrative.

Perhaps due to her long years of operating a business, Lin maintains a busy social calendar. As a natural extension of her inclination to observe those around her, scenes of social interactions and interpersonal relationships became a significant element in her artwork. Over the years, Lin has transitioned from her business career to painting full-time. Her observations such as family life, everyday vignettes, and social happenings, provide source material for her work. Lin is exterior to the frame, observing the scenes through photo lenses. The work Snapshot faithfully portrays the dining habits of our digital age, where mobile phones have taken on the role of tasting foods. Social media is flushed with an overabundance of food photos, a part of the zeigeist of our time. In Time Tunnel, the focus lies on the empty plates and tableware post-consumption, a true representation of the merrymaking at dinner parties. Unlike many artworks that depict social interactions by emphasizing the interpersonal dynamics, Lin’s intentionally flattened figures are delegated to supporting roles within the composition. Other works such as Going to School, First Encounter, Father Feeding Baby, and Comfort etc., reveal the warm and sensitive side of the artist as she captures new experiences in different stages of life. By deliberately omitting certain details and utilizing simple, large color spaces with unified color schemes, the paintings exude a sense of calm, lending a window into the artist’s view from afar. The artist carefully maintains a distance, refraining from interfering in the lives of her subjects. Nevertheless, the limited facial expressions of the figures in the paintings inadvertently disclose their deepest emotions. Lin’s calm analysis is evident in the layers of paint in her artwork. The seemingly spontaneous splashes, scrapes, and layers are the result of swift mental calculations, constructed inside predetermined confines. It is controlled chaos. Lin’s technique involves repeat cutting and layering of transparent vinyl sheets to create stencils, to which paint is subsequently applied. Using syringes, scrapers, rollers, or knives, the paints produce an effect reminiscent of printmaking, setting it apart from the characteristic texture of paintbrushes. The use of transparent stencils allows for careful consideration of color combinations with the underlying layers, granting the artist the freedom of movement anchored in having a visible point of reference.

Upon closer examination of Lin’s works, in Roaming, Image II, Excitement, Focus, One and only, Come on, Graffiti and others, the figures are presented in a similar hollowed-out or negative space style. Does this suggest missing pieces of her own personal memories? The composition primarily features colorful backgrounds and vibrant screen images, drawing the attention of the figures inward as well as the viewer’s gaze. It seems as if the figures have receded from the frame, when in fact, they have not. Stepping back, one sees the larger blank spaces clash with high chromaticity of the background, where the blank spaces then assert their command over the attention of one’s visual experience. The figures do not exhibit excessive poses or body language, instead, they share a uniform posture of staring at the screen. Even young children are captivated, no wonder “phubber” becomes a label of contemporary society. The phenomenon of families and friends phubbing during gatherings has become a cultural spectacle, reminiscent of British artist Richard Hamilton’s 1956 collage piece Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? This artwork similarly depicts and explores how the mass adoption of new technology had brought about changes in people’s lifestyles. However, in contrast to the satire and caricatures of Pop Art, Lin herself participates in this change, observing everything from the perspective of a documentary photographer. She faithfully portrays the scenes and outlines silhouettes of those in her painting, using the photographs only as a foundation of the outer edges of the world. Typical photographic elements such as light, shadow, texture, colors, and figurativism are removed and replaced with the artist’s own choices. It is interesting to note that the sharp-edged contours created by the vinyl templates in Lin’s work recall a visual experience similar to Hamilton’s collages that juxtaposed images from cut print materials (eg. advertisements and magazines). Lin and Hamilton are two kindred spirits in their observations of human behavior and social phenomena, in their pursuit of the novel and the innovative, and in delivering impact on the viewers.

This series of works encompasses various aspects of Lin’s everyday life, including family life, social functions, random snapshots, and street observations. Without exception, figures in the paintings are deeply engrossed in the use of electronic devices, unable to divert their attention from their screens. Internet addiction has become a widespread issue in modern society. According to the “2019 General Survey on Digital of People with Mobile Phones” released by the National Communications Commission (NCC), the percentage of mobile phone users in Taiwan accessing the internet through their devices has steadily increased. It rose significantly from 35.3% in 2011 to 88.2% in 2018, and further climbed to 89.8% in 2019.1 The internet has become the primary source for acquiring information and entertainment in people’s daily lives. With the rise of self-media and social networking platforms, as well as the versatility and convenience of web portals, accessing information from various websites has become effortless. We can watch the same videos, view the same images, and share a collective visual experience, forging a common “vision.” Through mobile phones and the internet, it seems as though humans have reconstructed a modern-day “Tower of Babel,” establishing a shared language through collective visual experiences. In Lin’s artworks, the allure of visual windows is clearly presented. Using paint on canvas (or frame) as her medium, she captures her observations of contemporary life and social phenomena in the “window,” a surface that has been explored by countless artists throughout history. The layers of vibrant colors intertwine and shift, creating a visual tapestry reminiscent of the captivating hues encountered when facing a screen. It can be said that Lin has created yet another window, capturing the individuals immersed in their small screens. Meanwhile, the viewers who observe her artwork become another group of spectators, captivated by a larger screen that is the canvas.

The aforementioned works primarily arise from observing human social patterns within the context of infatuated internet use, social activities and everyday life around the artist. These artworks still maintain a measure of narrative quality and follow traditional principles of figurative painting. However, Lin’s new works in 2023 can be described as a full commitment to portraiture and, in the process, developing a unique creative vocabulary. They resemble meticulously planned and highly rehearsed feasts, with new artistic expressions refined through previous experimentations. In the Children Series and Play Series, Lin further zeros in on postures, isolating interpersonal dynamics and discarding all irrelevant backgrounds. The children’s figures engaged in play exhibit a sense of uninhibited freedom, distinct from the adults’ controlled movements that are shaped by years of social conditioning. The type of inhibited freedom on display may have arisen from hidden rebelliousness and the inner child’s sense of play. The body movements are seemingly sampled at random and reassembled. Through asymmetrical and whimsical rearrangement of proportions, Lin breaks with space and perspective principles. Traditional senses of lighting and space occupation by bodies is replaced by repeatedly scraped layering of colors, leaving only the silhouettes to dictate visual flow. Finally, a rational and evenly applied white background forms a negative space that establishes a perimeter within which free brushstrokes and spontaneous drippings may whirl, careen, and take flight. It is worth noting the bold use of metallic colors here, infusing grandeur without being out of place, a clear demonstration of the artist’s mastery with color. Abundant layering, flattened figures, and continuous movements in the artwork resemble intricate codes within the composition. The concept of “Figure-ground Illusion” is cleverly employed. By abandoning traditional figurative painting elements, the work comes closer to the exploration of painting itself. Through imagery, composition, brushstrokes, colors, textures, and more, the artist contemplates the essence of painting. This self-inquiry inevitably emerges as painting and/or artists reach beyond a certain stage of exploration in their artistic journey.

Through numerous conversations and following of Lin’s works over time, I have witnessed the distillation of her artistic vision as it evolved, as well as her joy in discovery of new frontiers. Most notably is Lin’s dedication to figurative painting. Every time I visited her studio, her undeniable enthusiasm is palpable, resembling a chef orchestrating a grand feast for the first time, presenting dish after dish that are vibrant in color, aroma, and taste. The highly prolific artist is remarkable in her boundless creative energy. Lin is constantly innovating, refusing to limit herself to past routines. For her, although repetition in expression is tedious and unbearable, Lin exemplifies the utmost discipline in her work ethics day in and day out. It is this unwavering commitment to her craft that defines the path that all artists must embrace.