Moonlit Cherry-Blossom Lake

Moonlit Cherry-Blossom Lake is a spiritual journey across culture and nature. The moon, the lake, the mountains, the cherry blossoms and the solitary boat are each an embodiment of East Asian natural aesthetics and philosophy. I grew up in China, steeped in classical Chinese painting and thought — drawn above all to the many symbolic meanings of the moon. After moving to Japan, I came to a deeper feeling for the Japanese aesthetics of nature, and for the cherry blossom in particular. This work was born of exactly such a meeting of cultures: it weaves together the natural and cultural elements of China and Japan, and offers a singular reading of the aesthetics and philosophy of both.

Its name, too, carries meaning. The moon stands for change and eternity; the cherry blossom for the brevity and brilliance of life; the lake and the lone boat for stillness and contemplation. Together they build a multi-dimensional space suspended between the real and the dreamed, the material and the spiritual, nature and the human. Through it I hope to give form to my own sense of nature and culture — and to awaken in the viewer many layers of reflection on nature, culture and life. It is a wordless dialogue, a touch between hearts, a resonance reaching across cultures and across time.