2025
JIAN
Copper Plate
140 x 220 mm
Presented as a side-by-side juxtaposition, this work explores the boundary between the "visible" and the "invisible." It captures both the text that is perceived and the manifestation of that which remains unseen. On the left, the black sutra text is dense a physical incarnation of the Buddha that remains legible. On the right, only indentations remain; the characters have nearly vanished, yet their ghostly presence compels the viewer to linger, striving to confirm their existence.
The work references the phrase Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi (अनुत्तरा सम्यक्सम्बोधित) from the Diamond Sutra, signifying Supreme, Universal, and Perfect Enlightenment.
WANG YAN DE ZHI DUAN KE WU MING
Screen Print on Wood
457 × 356 × 19 mm
The title, Wang Yan De Zhi Duan Ke Wu Ming (To forget words is to grasp the essence;
through this, one may truly awaken), is drawn from the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch.
In this work, the characters—once the vessels of meaning—are transformed into unreadable black symbols. Arranged in precise, orderly rows, they no longer point to any definitive semantic content.
Here, language reaches its limit, and the path of reading is severed. It is only by momentarily suspending language and judgment that a true understanding becomes possible.
SI (I, II, III, IV, V)
Copper Plate
150 x 150 x 1 mm (each)
Through a prolonged process of corrosion, the outward forms of the characters on these copper plates have been gradually stripped away, leaving behind only traces of varying depths and silhouettes. These marks appear as shadows remaining after their original meanings have been hollowed out.
No longer functioning as language, these traces form a new visual structure that drifts between the textual and the non-textual. The viewer is compelled to momentarily set aside familiar modes of reading—moving away from a reliance on linguistic comprehension and toward a perception rooted in the act of seeing itself.
Looking forward, this work will expand into a series of fifteen copper plates, presenting a complete yet unreadable rendition of the Diamond Sutra.