Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

NumberS: Mixed Scripts with Stars and Clouds

2016
Ink on Paper
48 7/8 x 71 5/8 in (124 x 182 cm)

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

NumberS: Transparent Script with Exicison

2021
Ink on Paper
23 7/8 x 36 1/4 in (60.5 x 92 cm)

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

NumberS: Transparent Script with Pagoda

2022
Ink on Paper
27 1/8 x 56 1/4 in (69 x 143 cm)

At the center of this work is a stylized representation of a pagoda, paired with a seal that reads, “the spirit escapes” 元神出竅. This expression is derived from Daoist practice, describing the level of spiritual attainment where a practitioner’s soul is able to leave the body. In Fung’s painting, this phrase takes on new meaning when paired with a pagoda, a symbol of Buddha’s freedom from the cycle of rebirth. Imprinting this stamp atop a sequence of numbers as well as swirling circular and oblong forms, the artist uses the tension between layers of painting and shufa to explore two kinds of liberation. Can spirit escape from form? Can it escape from time itself?

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

NumberS: Form Vacant Script with Excision

2021
Ink on Paper
22 1/2 x 28 3/8 in (57 x 72 cm)

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

NumberS: Form Mixed Scripts II

2022
Ink on Paper
22 x 26 3/8 in (56 x 67 cm)

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

NumberS: Form Vacant Script II

2022
Ink on Paper
27 x 38 1/4 in (68.5 x 97 cm)

Although series of numbers often embed a discrete, logical sequence of time into Fung’s works, the artist sometimes plays with this idea to create surprising effects. In this work, Fung laid multiple pages of handwritten numbers upon a flat surface together with some uninscribed triangles and rectangles. Placing a sheet of paper atop this collage, he outlined the numbers that were visible in a uniform style. Although the sequenced time within each traced series is legible, this logical progression is disrupted by flattening and juxtaposing these overlapping, multi-oriented, and partially obfuscated numbers into a coherent but jumbled whole.

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

NumberS: Shadow Script with Excision

2021, 2021
Ink on Paper
24 x 35 in (61 x 89 cm)

The sequence of Fung’s artistic process is embedded in the layers of this work. First, he wrote a series of numbers in light grey ink before quickly painting over them with a brush loaded with dark grey ink. The interaction between these two shades of wet ink makes the numbers spread and “bloom” where the dark ink is thickest. The last few strokes of this upper layer were applied as the brush ran out of ink, leaving brushy streaks that produce a different effect. Next, Fung used a razor blade to excise arrow shapes from the paper, pointing to elements of the layers beneath. Finally, he finished the work by affixing a seal with his name squarely in the center. Thus, while the formal elements seem balanced and strictly two-dimensional, the work may be read as a record of Fung’s artistic process unfolding in time.

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

Rubbing Script

2017

Ink on Paper
24 x 48 in (61 x 122 cm)

In this work, the artist uses the multistep process of “rubbing script” to trace the layers of meaning at play in the words he has written. Fung first wrote “more mall” in water before bathing this section of paper in light grey ink. Afterwards, he wrote the character 魔 mo (demon) in an added layer of dark black. Reading the English and Chinese words individually, they share a similar sound.  But reading them together, they provide a pointed critique of consumerism. 

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

Piled Needle Script

2001
Ink on Paper
54 x 27 in (137.2 x 68.6 cm)

This 2001 work uses the materials and processes of traditional shufa to explore the connection between embodied time and legibility. “Piled Needle Script” 针直叠字 is created with uniform strokes from an upright brush that are individually legible as good traditional brushwork. However, Fung has exploded the composition of each character and stacked individual characters upon each other, creating uneven accumulations of brushwork across the page that place a strain on legibility. Punctuating the irregular open spaces with seals, the artist calls our attention to this work as a painted collection of shapes and lines, even as flashes of recognizable text confirm its unbroken connection to shufa.

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Fung Ming Chip

Transition Script

2022
Ink on Paper, 13 3/4 x 51 1/8 in (35 x 130 cm)

Fung is a prolific poet who uses shufa as a medium for literary self-expression. This work records a moment of poetic introspection during a transpacific flight. To embody the meaning of the poem, the artist uses two distinctive scripts. In the first, his meditations on structure and substance appear in needle script, which breaks down characters into thin lines and expands their internal structure to push the boundaries of legibility. In the second, he incorporates elements of musical notation into characters to transcribe the rhythm of time. Fung switches from needle script to musical script as he moves from “Cheating physical structure/” to the next line, “confusing time and space by focusing on distance” 欺騙生理結構 迷惑時空焦點距離.