Landscape 2017

Chaokun Wang made this black and white photograph of a landscape, and it's got me thinking about light and dark. It feels like a study in contrasts. Look at how the water is not just a flat plane, but a series of ripples and waves, each catching the light differently. The dark mountains in the background create a solid, almost impenetrable barrier, yet their silhouettes are softened by the way the light catches on them. There’s a constant push and pull between what’s revealed and what’s concealed. The entire composition is a study in abstraction. Maybe Chaokun Wang was looking at someone like Gerhard Richter, who also explored the blurring of representation and abstraction. Art, like this landscape, is about the many ways of seeing and experiencing the world, always open to new interpretations.