In the triptych Jade Inlaid Vermillion Sky, Peng Kanglong uses the xuejing or “snowy landscape” method to paint a fantastic, imaginary garden scene in which peonies float like white clouds...
In the triptych Jade Inlaid Vermillion Sky, Peng Kanglong uses the xuejing or “snowy landscape” method to paint a fantastic, imaginary garden scene in which peonies float like white clouds in a vermillion sky and intertwine with spindly, black garden rocks jutting from the blue-green ground. Just as in a snow landscape where empty sky is painted gray and the solid ground is left untouched, Peng renders the solid forms of the peonies and its branches in liubai or “untouched white” while painting the sky a soft vermillion hue. Furthermore, through the play of light and shadow on the thick, fibrous texture of his bespoke paper, Peng’s conjures substance and dimensionality to the peony’s booms and twisting branches reserved in untouched white.