Painting the Dao

141 ak24.94 Last Pines in the Gorge Ink and watercolour on cloud-dragon paper 143 × 79 cm, Hong Kong, November 2024 Five artist seals 水松石山房 Shuisongshi shanfang (Water, Pine and Stone Retreat) 竹虛老人 Zhuxu laoren (Old man as empty inside as bamboo) 山外山樵 Shanwai shanqiao (Mountain woodcutter who is not in the mountains) 人磨墨墨磨人 Renmomo momoren (Man grinds the ink; ink grinds the man) 有意无意 Youyi wuyi (Between intention and no intention) inscr iption Last pines in the wilderness Clinging, lifeless, to bare stone; Calligraphic expressions of fallibility Silhouetted against the falls, Snowmelt- and rain-fed, Singing still to ears long deaf In a mindless world But that is just the surface meaning, the ephemera that emerge during the largely random process of exploring depth, essence, the inner abstraction and alchemy of the process. Disappearing into the wilderness, then uniting with it beyond distinction, pines become dragons inviting me to join them in their eternal dance of existence. Inscribed by the Master of the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat at the Garden at the Edge of the Universe as winter returns to bring closure to 2024.