植物一 1994

This is *Plant One*, by Xu Hongming, who was born in China in 1971. It seems to be made with oil paint on canvas. The painting has a very uniform, almost mechanically repeated pattern. You can see countless marks, each one a tiny, flickering unit, together constructing what looks like an endless field of grass. The effect is mesmerizing but also unsettling; it denies our expectation for natural growth and variation. The artist’s labor becomes very apparent. This isn't just a depiction of nature, it's an index of repetitive actions, all those brushstrokes that add up to the image before us. In this work, the artist engages with the tradition of landscape painting, yet also offers a subtle commentary on labor, production, and the tension between human intervention and the natural world. By considering *Plant One* in terms of both its making and its meaning, we can see how the artist challenges us to rethink the distinctions between fine art and craft.