The Vessels of Time series is a project that has been ongoing since 2012. The first time seeing these artworks is like watching time being fixed into a frame. Giant waves and bolts of lightning are condensed into a small, exquisite frame. The ferocity of electrical storms and great waves seem locked into a small space, ready to be unleashed at any moment. Other works capture the instant before a feather touches the ground, recording the rhythm of gravity. The works in his rose series seem to record the temporal feel of old love letters, fixed moments of love. The rose is a symbol of love, but this is not the focus of the artist’s emphasis. The meaning projected by the flowers and the illusions produced by the image are intended to provoke the viewer to ponder views on truth and reality. A close look at the details reveals that this vividly realistic depiction of the rose is actually an artificial plastic flower.
The artist probes the distance between realism and reality through humour. Grasping on to our accustomed ways of seeing realist painting, he creates a seemingly real “plastic feel” to present a reliable and compelling illusion that speaks of another possibility for realist painting from another angle. His conceptual art constantly breaks through existing paradigms, and gives a natural feel of plausibility to serendipity and absurdity through his manipulation of medium. His creations allow the artworks to express themselves, and through sustained artistic practice, the artist has brought about new viewpoints in each creation.
Lu Zhengyuan is an artist who constantly explores the realm of the unknown through diverse mediums. Beginning with his early work 84 Days, 84 Works, in which he maintained a state of high creative activity and exploration for 84 days, the artist has continually explored integrated creative threads. Through sculpture, video, painting, installation, performances and multimedia interaction, his works breathe life into living perceptions, produce subversive conceptual dislocations, and probe truth, illusion and the trajectories of time.
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