It is rare to see people experiment with the art of Chinese ink and rice paper, due to its powerful status in the realm of traditional Chinese art, and its connotation to the past. While a lot of contemporary artists have decided to venture off into new media, and to translate their ideas through technology and digital means, it is particularly interesting to see young artists dedicate themselves to analog formats of production.
The works by Nissa Kauppila stays true to the techniques of Chinese ink on rice paper, yet twists the usual depiction into something more abstract, more gentle and more glorious. This Vermont-based artist not only creates genuine “anatomy of a great blue heron or a wood duck, but to what it’s like to experience those species”, as told by Ben Goldfarb from Sage Magazine, but also creates tension that point towards the ideas of beauty, life and death. With almost perfect splatters and comet-like tails to her brushwork, there is a recurring theme of nature in her wonderful works. The intricate lines and colors used in her works are able to introduce a sense of fragility, which makes the viewers treasure the sight of her works.
