The Sea in My Heart 2005

Kexin Di made this oil painting, at an unknown date, on a canvas nearly two meters tall, and it feels like a big undertaking. I'm getting the feeling that the artist has collapsed, overcome with the act of painting in the landscape! The prone figure is so tired they’re dissolving into the earth itself. There’s a harmony between them and the landscape. The artist has used very thick paint to build up the landscape, smearing it around to create texture. Just look at how the whites and blues of the sky are dabbed onto the canvas! I can imagine Di working on this over a long period, returning to the same spot to capture the changing light and atmosphere. It reminds me of those plein air painters, and that kind of hardy, masculine endeavour. But here, the artist seems to be overcome by the landscape, exhausted, and vulnerable. There’s something very human about that, the physical effort of painting in the wild. Di is in conversation with so many artists, and the landscape itself.