Painting the Dao

90 ak17.59 Source Stone Ink and red wine on Arches paper 91 × 101 cm, Hong Kong, October 2017 Three 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) 養石閒人 Yangshi xianren (Idler who cherishes stones) Published The Master of the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat, Beyond the Stage of Time , ii: Staff Masters and Stone Fools (Hong Kong: Rasti Chinese Art, 2020), 336 inscr iption Somewhere in the universe the Source Stone awaits with timeless indifference. Manifestation of the potential of the Void, countless aeons in the making, carved by unimaginable forces, it is the aesthetic heart of the cosmos possessed of infinite meaning. It is the ultimate strange stone, progenitor of those treasured for centuries on our own infinitesimally small speck of matter, from which we gaze out, searching, hoping. Maybe it is only a dream, but perhaps one day, through a rent in the fabric of reality, a strange-stone master will encounter the Master of all Stones; in the meantime, it can be imagined. What better way to do so than with ink? The heart of esoteric knowledge, the chosen means of those who would pass profound truths from generation to generation. Inscribed by the Master of the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat, autumn 2017.