東方琴韻 序 施並錫教授
東方琴韻是一系列「情花語 意深言」的「畫境清 詩意古」之油畫創作。立偉寄情於古典絲竹的音律曲調；寓意於清秀佳人的撥彈吹吟。於焉畫中樂聲悠揚貫古今，柔情款款滿乾坤。
立偉以琴韻詩境創造他的烏托邦境地，並引吾人彷彿進入那失去地平線(何似在人間)的香格里拉。在此，滔滔濁流全不懼，紅塵白浪任翻滾。
立偉的畫路歷程，從對自然讚頌(美哉生態)，經歷悲憫吾土蒼生(苦澀眾生形態)，到今詩情聲籟之思古鑑今(深層意識意象)。其創作的思維態勢，全係關心自身所處之生活環境和故國神遊的歷史情愫，心裡深層的積極作用。
立偉的審美取向不僵化固著於特一面向。其關照和感觸呈現多角狀態。東方琴韻畫作，語彙顯易，用意深邃。遷想音籟，妙得詩意。向東方儒釋道融合的哲思，尋覓靈感。神遊於宮、商、角、徴、羽樂音飛揚的詩詞天地。於此，立偉為自己，也為我們尋找到了一處「採菊東籬下 悠然見南山」而無「喧喧車馬度」的「心遠地自偏」之心靈清境美地。
他立象以盡(古典詩)意，設色以盡(思古幽)情。並託曲調以傳那亙古滌慮清心的東方音律美學。藉〈梅花三弄〉畫作，立偉以典婉少艾搭配盛開梅花，託此古琴曲示吾人梅花之潔白清芬和耐酷之傲霜骨特性。此情此意此調，引領吾人踏入東方美學境界。領略梅乃花之最清，琴乃聲之最清。以最清之聲音，寫最清之事務。於是此清洗淨了吾人生命裡的塵垢。
透過〈水調歌頭〉畫作，我們走近蘇東坡那澎湃洶湧，浩瀚無垠的想像多情詩詞世界，蘇軾〈念奴嬌〉一句「故國神遊 多情應笑」，堪可略釋立偉的創作思維及心情。
而在〈江月琴聲〉，吾人又沉醉在白居易〈琵琶行〉裡「楓葉荻花秋瑟瑟 別時茫茫江浸月」，同嘆人生際遇的淒美無常。
賞析一系列的東方琴韻，我們和唐宋詩人神交。深深瞭然立偉藉其畫作引領我們認識詩人們那深厚博大的時代感，以及憂國憂民，悲天憫人的使命感。畫家和詩人一樣，他不僅僅是一個詩人或畫家。他們是站在時代前端的思想者或文化探險者。從事繪畫創作多年的立偉，當知如是。
文化工作者的創作，無論畫、詩、曲，全是一種態度和信仰。他們對生活的認識和藝術表現，必須吻合生活的內涵，還有當代大多數人的期待。當今人們期待什麼？當今人們之所期待是能生活在有情，又無汙染的清透世界。立偉這古意盎然的東方琴韻，似乎替我們指出了一扇門了。
施並錫寫於 2017.02.12
Melodies of Oriental Music Instruments / Prologue
Melodies of Oriental Instruments is a series of oil paintings that “adore the whispers of flowers and probe the depths of meanings” through “depicting the translucent environment and portraying the poetic antique.” Li-wei is inspired by the tones and rhythms of classical Chinese stringed instruments and he materializes the inspiration by drawing beauties who play and chant the music. The paintings embody the music that has existed throughout time and that has filled the space with loving emotions.
Li-wei creates his Utopia with the sweet melodies and poetic realms that draw us to a lost horizon (a heavenly world)—the Shangri La. There, we fear no ravaging waves as we tumble through the mortal hustles and bustles.
In his career, Li-wei started out praising the natural beauty (how marvelous Nature can be). Then, he expressed sympathy towards humanity and land (the bitterness of beings). Now, he ponders the past and the present with poetic and melodic feelings. His creative spirit is derived from his love and care for the surrounding, the country and the history, driving him from deep inside his heart.
Li-wei appreciates and applies different means towards beauty. His concerns and feelings are of multi facades: Melodies of Oriental Music Instruments are paintings that are expressive and thought provoking. Li-wei achieves the poetic genius through contemplating music. He searches for insights in the oriental philosophy of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. He journeys through the poetic world of pentatonic scales. All in all, Li-wei discovered for himself and for us a purely wonderful land of the heart, where we “pick chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, and gaze the distance Zhongnan Mountains,” without any “roaring traffic,” so that “the heart can be secluded wherever it is.”
Li-wei creates images to evoke deeper meanings within (classical poems); he uses colors to provoke feelings inside (ancient thoughts); he uses melodies to express the ever-lasting, cleansing power of oriental music aesthetics. With his “Plum Blossoms and the Music,” Li-wei accompanies blossoming plums with delicate tones to imply the fragrance, purity, endurance and pride that plum blossoms symbolize. This feeling, this meaning, and this tone can reveal the oriental aesthetics. Plum blossoms are the purest of flowers; instruments are the purest of sound. To use the purest sound to depict the purest things, Li-wei cleanses the souls of us all.
Viewing “Water Melody,” we get closer to Su Shi’s world of surging turbulence with vast and boundless emotions. Su Shi’s words “my mind wanders in the historic landscape and one should laugh at my sentiments,” in Lyrics to Remembering Your Charms, can somehow capture Le-wei’s creative minds and heart.
Whereas viewing “Tweedle under the River Moonlight,” we are bathed in the sadness and uncertainties in life that are also expressed in Bai Ju-yi’s Ode to a Lady’s Pipa Play—“Maple leaves and white reed flowers scattered in the autumn season, while the moon light soaks in the misty river water as we say goodbye.”
Viewing the series of Melodies of Oriental Music Instruments, we encounter the poets of Tang and Song dynasties. Li-wei displays a sense of mission towards humanity and country, which sympathizes the beings through leading us to know the poets and their times. Painters and poets are similar and they are more than painters and poets. They are the pioneers of the time—great thinkers and cultural explorers. Li-wei, being a creator of arts for years, knows and acts this way.
Cultural workers create works of art, being paintings, poems, or melodies, based on their attitude towards life and faith. Their ideas of life and art must touch upon the essence of life and meet most people’s expectations. What do modern day people expect? People now seem to long for a loving, unpolluted and pure world. Li-wei’s archaic Melodies of Oriental Musical Instruments seems to show us a way to that world.
Shih Bing-Shyi Feb 12th 2017
