Zen Stone No.12

31*40cm

Mixmedia Print

Zen Stone - A Heart Sutra Meditation on Form and Emptiness

The entire artwork is predominantly rendered in a pure off-white background, which can symbolize the "emptiness" (空) revealed by the Heart Sutra—pure, undefiled, and pervasive throughout all phenomena. It is without beginning or end, unarising and unceasing, the original nature of all dharmas.

At the very top of the canvas, the black oval shape is filled with coarse ink marks, mottled textures, and a hint of white circular dots. This is a symbol of the "form aggregate" (色蕴). Black represents the complexity, transience, and impermanence of the material world, while the flowing ink marks and rough textures hint at the arising and ceasing, the non-substantiality of "form." Even the small white circular light within it is merely a fleeting manifestation within "form," ultimately returning to emptiness. This embodies the Heart Sutra's insight that "form is precisely emptiness."

The two abstract forms in the middle, where beige and light grayish-brown seamlessly merge, with their soft, rounded transitions, can be seen as abstract representations of the other four aggregates: "feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness" (受、想、行、识). They have no clear boundaries, and their colors blend gradually, suggesting the fluidity, interconnectedness, and non-fixed nature of these four aggregates. They are not substantially existent but are psychological activities that arise and cease dependently on conditions. The blending of light grayish-brown and beige also implies the subtle changes of mental activity, all ultimately returning to the emptiness of non-self and no attainment.

The lowermost form, half in a soft, fleshy pink and half filled with flowing ink marks and chaotic textures, is the ultimate expression of "form and emptiness are not two" (色空不二), and also the state of "no wisdom and no attainment" (无智亦无得) from the Heart Sutra. The fleshy pink can symbolize the softness and fleeting nature of worldly emotions and sensory experiences, while the adjacent chaotic ink marks re-emphasize the impermanence and non-self nature of the phenomenal world. Their juxtaposition, without distinction, means that "emptiness" is not nothingness, but rather directly perceiving its non-self nature within phenomena, seeing "emptiness" in "existence," and "existence" in "emptiness." This non-dualistic state is precisely the breaking of all attachments, leading to the ultimate liberation of "no attainment."

Through its minimalist colors and abstract forms, this artwork presents the profound Prajñā (wisdom) of the Heart Sutra in an intuitive and profound way, guiding the viewer to transcend dualistic oppositions, realize the true nature of "emptiness," and thereby release all attachments to attain inner peace and freedom.