Flowers in Bloom 1989

Huang Yongyu made this painting, "Flowers in Bloom," with what looks like ink and color on paper, and I’m so drawn to the way he’s built up the image with layers of marks, like he's coaxing the flowers into existence one tiny dab at a time. The texture here is key. Look at how the small dots of orange and red create a palpable sense of depth and volume, contrasted with the pale blue peeking through. It’s like a mosaic or tapestry of color. There are two white birds there too. The way the paint is applied in these concentrated spots makes me think of the pointillist paintings by Seurat, but with a looser, more expressive feel, capturing the vitality of a blooming tree. It’s like he’s saying, art is about embracing the beauty of imperfection.