Artwork Title Autumn Hues of Western Hubei (《鄂西秋色》)
Artist Peng Xinfeng (彭新峰), member of the modern artists collective Jianghan Eight Fellows (江汉八友)
Date 2025
Medium Ink and mineral pigments on premium cardboard
Dimensions Three-chi doufang (traditional square format), approx. 55 cm x 50 cm
Description Peng Xinfeng’s Autumn Hues of Western Hubei captures the rugged beauty of the Shennongjia forests through a synthesis of classical shanshui (mountain-water) principles and modernist abstraction. Dominated by layered peaks rendered in bold, dry-brush strokes, the composition juxtaposes the geological grandeur of Hubei’s karst cliffs with the intimate humanity of clustered village dwellings. Fiery vermilion and ochre pigments animate autumn foliage, while mist-shrouded valleys emerge from delicate ink washes, evoking the ephemeral interplay of light and shadow unique to the region’s microclimates. A solitary fisherman’s boat along the Qingjiang River, executed in minimalist lines, anchors the scene in timeless rural labor. Two seals—one bearing the artist’s name, the other reading “山川与共” (“Mountains and Rivers in Communion”)—complete the literati-inspired dialogue between human presence and primordial wilderness.
Material and Technique Breaking from traditional xuan paper conventions, Peng employs industrial-grade cardboard to amplify textural contrasts. The material’s absorbent surface intensifies the cun (texture) strokes that define cliff faces, creating a tactile terrain reminiscent of Song dynasty axe-cut cun (皴) techniques . Mineral pigments—cinnabar for maple leaves, malachite for mossy rocks—revive Tang dynasty palettes, while “broken ink” (pomo) washes dissolve distant ridges into abstraction, bridging Guo Xi’s 11th-century mist-and-void aesthetics with 21st-century ecological consciousness. The cardboard’s raw edges, left partially exposed, nod to the Jianghan Eight Fellows’ ethos of material memory, repurposing urban detritus as cultural signifiers.
Cultural Dialogue This work epitomizes the Jianghan Eight Fellows’ mission to “reclaim ink as living heritage.” While structurally referencing Fan Kuan’s monumental landscapes, Peng subverts literati idealism by exaggerating the scale of rustic homes against dwarfed mountains—a critique of urbanization encroaching on Hubei’s ancient ecosystems. The autumnal theme, traditionally symbolizing transience, here becomes a meditation on resilience; the Shennongjia region, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, faces pressures from tourism and deforestation. Peng’s fusion of Tang mineral pigments with cardboard—a material sourced from dismantled Wuhan factories—embodies the collective’s Material Memory series (2023–2025), which interrogates China’s craft traditions amid post-industrial realities.
Contextualization Created during Peng’s residency in the Shennongjia forests, Autumn Hues belongs to his Ecological Allegories cycle, which reimagines classical motifs through an environmental lens. The work dialogues with Xu Bing’s Background Story series, where industrial debris constructs landscape illusions, and Julie Mehretu’s ink-infused abstractions of urban sprawl. Peng’s choice of cardboard—a nod to his 2019 New Peak series displayed at the Hubei Provincial Art Museum —reflects a broader trend among Chinese ink artists to hybridize ancestral techniques with sustainable materials. His treatment of light, achieved through layered ink transparencies rather than Western chiaroscuro, reclaims Song dynasty optical innovation for contemporary discourse on ecological perception.
Exhibition Note The square format—a departure from traditional scrolls—reflects digital-age visual consumption, while the cardboard’s industrial origins invite contemplation of art’s role in the Anthropocene.
Conservation Note: UV-filtered vitrine required due to light-sensitive cinnabar pigments.