Art historian Sir Ernst Gombrich, in his discussion of the 16th-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, asserted that Bosch's paintings represented the inaugural and triumphant conversion of the fears residing in people's hearts into tangible and expressive images. Even prior to the advent of abstract art, human fantasies and spiritual activities found expression through imaginative and creatively concrete images. Reflecting on human history, primitive individuals, akin to the children of humanity, did not exhibit abstract thinking. They intertwined the imagination of their minds with sensory experiences, presenting them in a form of imaginative thinking. As humanity matured, rational thinking gained dominance, and myths were forgotten. At this juncture, it was only artists and poets who could break through these limitations, rescuing an era where myths were lost. This allowed people to continue communicating between the spiritual and material worlds, liberating themselves from the fate of "objectification." Only through this liberation could imagination transform into creation, ensuring that humans remained truly human.
Turning to the works of artist Xue Fei, in her dynamic and whimsical creations, she constructs a "divine" world for the observer. In this world, there are images full of quirky and clever fantastical beings, as if the artist has become a medium bridging the spiritual realm and reality, revealing all the facts of another world. In Xue Fei's paintings, despite depicting various magical scenes, a poetic and kind spiritual atmosphere is conveyed. Her monster sculptures are completely devoid of horror and fierceness; instead, they radiate cuteness and childlike innocence, resembling pets nurtured on another planet. In the midst of the chaotic times, where everyone is too preoccupied to focus on themselves, Xue Fei is resisting this world. She turns inward, merging human memory, history, mythology, magic, and all the precious heritage into an inner narrative. It is neither a rational construction nor universally teachable; it belongs to the reproduction of the unknown realm within human instinct. This is also the elusive charm of an artist.
In each of Xue Fei's paintings, the daydream-like fantastical scenes invite viewers to encounter her dreams, simultaneously teasing some instinctive awakening within the viewers themselves. This is a story of escaping reality, where the artist is like a child unwilling to grow up, indulging in a world of toys. In art, human consciousness is never abandoned, although time keeps passing, the genetic heritage of primitive ancestors has never left humanity. The childhood of humanity intertwines with individual childhoods, hidden deep within everyone, questioning who we are, where we are, and whether we are still ourselves. Faced with Xue Fei's works, it is this mystery, this fantasy, this dream that helps us examine our present selves.
People admire artists and poets because they are the ones searching for lost memories on behalf of humanity. Yet, they often feel the helplessness and pain of reality more intensely, so they place themselves in the "eternal childhood." Xue Fei says, "It's hard for people to truly grow up." In a sense, this statement can be understood as artists' unwillingness to confront the rational and material world. But for us living in this world, avoiding adulthood is challenging. Xue Fei tells her story through her artistic works, also enlightening viewers: we don't have to define our lives through this real world.
"In a dream, humans can be anything and everything."
Written by Wu Xiaohu
2023 Fall, Beijing
Titled and translated by Lorraine Han
