艺术家的成长过程其实是一个思考的过程，没有深入的思考，其艺术便逐步走向下坡路。不断地思考让我们怀疑曾经信以为真的东西，那些所谓权威与不容置疑的先验信条实际上是思考者的藩篱，探索路上的绊脚石。
For an artist, the process of his artistic exploration is at the same time the process of deepening his thoughts, otherwise the art is endangered by being degrading. Continuous thinking enables one to doubt existed “truths” in his mind to find those so-called authorities and beliefs serve no more than barriers on the way of exploration.

年轻的艺术家李戈晔就是这样一位认真的思考者，她用自己的艺术创作来体现自己的不断思考与超越。尽管她曾经是一位可以被塑造成质地纯正的国画家，也往往被很轻易地纳入水墨新人展览的阵营。但她的艺术眼界，视野，和追求的感觉往往不同于一般同龄的水墨画家。她的作品中观众可以感受到的不仅是传统艺术素养的饱满吸收，也能感受到对既往艺术教条与格律的温和的背叛，更可以察觉到她对艺术与生活的思考与探求，当然还有她对新艺术的向往。不用说，对国画的概念和其“笔墨”的核心价值的背离是这一代年轻的新锐艺术家的基本价值认同，就李戈晔的艺术创作所体现出来的面貌而言，她同样超越了所谓“试验水墨”和“抽象水墨”所能涉及与涵盖的意义范围，而呈现出一个新鲜的艺术面貌。这个面貌还是一个萌芽的状态，但在她的个别前辈与同侪的艺术创作中已经呈现出一个有前景的势态。这个面貌可以概括为“在深入吸收的基础之上，对传统艺术在技术层面的最大背离，在审美层面上进行过滤与更新，在视觉效果层面上的多样化并打破材料的限制，在文化哲学层面上是呈现出建立在当代国际化社会生活经验的基础之上，探索当代视觉文化的新认同”。
Young artist Li Geye is a serious thinker of the kind, expressing her contributive thoughts by art. Although she was originally trained to be a traditional Chinese ink painter and should have easily been included in the group of young artists, her distinctive artistic opinions and pursuit makes her distinguished from other young ink painters. The viewer can tell from her paintings not only the profound influence from her substantial academic training, but also her moderate deviation from the tradition as well as her pursuit for new art. It’s not an uncommon phenomenon for young artists to find their original ways to deviate from the tradition, among whom Li Geye is also creating her characteristic style without being limited in the definitions of “experimental ink” or “abstract ink”. Distinguished from others, her art could be described as “on a profound traditional basis, deviation to a great extent in technique, extracting and renewing in aesthetic, diversification in visual effect by using multiple materials, exploration in contemporary visual culture in philosophy”.

这样的表述似乎宽泛而抽象，但用来描述李戈晔的作品的时候就变得清晰而具体。从用色，勾线，到涂绘晕染，我们都可以看到艺术家对中国传统艺术技术精髓的理解和掌握，在技术层面，我们感受到的是有深厚文化底蕴的一种张力，而不是简单的章法与特定艺术套路。而对已经成为经典的艺术格式与图样则抱着敬而远之的态度，所以说是一种温和的背离，而非激进的反叛。每一个历史时期的艺术都有各自的经典艺术，不同时代的经典艺术的传承就变成一份历史的传统，这个传统可以是沉重的包袱，也可以是滋养新艺术的沃土，因为它自身形成了一种艺术的基因传承在我们的文化血脉中，使自信的文化气质获得了坚实的精神依托。
Such statement appears vague and abstract, however corresponding adequately to Li’s artistic characteristics. From her colors, lines to other techniques in painting, the artist expresses her understanding and absorption of Chinese traditional art, exceeding technique itself, on a profound basis of Chinese culture. Instead of utterly opposing to the tradition, she takes the attitude of moderate deviation with her respect to it. The rich cultural heritage composed by classical art of different generations can be taken either as a millstone around artists’ neck or as nourishing resource.

但仅仅如此，还远远不够。李戈晔试图经过更新与提炼艺术手法与材料而使自己的艺术获得新生，一种审美的品质从传统的氛围中逐步显现出来。她将原来的平面艺术发展为空间性的艺术，通过光影的运用，将凝固的审美图示转化为在空间中浮动的意象，她将鹅卵石悬系在半空中，与并置的画面中的水迹形成心理上的张力，似乎蕴藏着不可言状的禅意与玄机。

也很明显的是，她的作品表达了艺术家对现实生活的感受，一种漂浮感，游动性与不确定因素，是关于当代人的感情世界的，也是关于他们的生存状态的视觉隐喻。这种建立在当代社会与私人生活经验基础之上的艺术具有很大的普遍意义，从而引起人们的共鸣，从而也成为当代文化认同的一部份。
What’s more, Li is creating a new characteristic by renewing and developing traditional methods and materials. Bringing outer space into painting and applying methods of light and shadow, for instance, she suspended cobblestones in front of paintings to correlate stones with the ter wave in paintings, creating atmosphere of Zen spirit and mystery. Obviously, her art expresses the artist’s thought about the reality and her feeling of drifting and uncertainty relating to people’s living environment and emotions, therefore it’s easy to find an echo among audience.

在传统的艺术评论者看来，来自江南文化渊薮苏州的才才女艺术家就该怎样怎样。在今天，这样的解读应该是十分“八股”的老套说法了。理解她的艺术最好还是从自身真实生活经验和当代艺术的普遍特征出发来体验她所传达的艺术感染力。在充满欲望的喧嚣的浮躁社会环境中，思考者的艺术总会带给人们宁静致远的精神超越。
In the opinion of traditional critics, it seems to exist some acknowledged standards to value female artists coming from southern cities of culture such as Suzhou, which is actually outdated dogma. The right way to interpret Li’s art rests in firstly understanding characteristics of nowadays society. In the society of desire and chaos, we are always expecting and longing for art of thinkers to give us tranquility and spiritual enjoyment.

Zhang Zhaohui
张朝晖
In autumn of 2007
2007年秋于798
（作者系朝艺堂当代艺术咨询机构总监，著名艺术评论家）
(the author is the Director of Joey Art Advisory Institute notable critic)