Landscape Knows No BoundsWhen the brushwork and poetic charm of traditional landscape painting collide with the visual tension of contemporary abstraction, artist Liu Jiutong employs oil paint as his brush and canvas as his paper to achieve a contemporary reinterpretation of the Eastern spirit of landscape art.

Traditional landscape painting employs natural scenery as its medium, pursuing “aesthetic conception” rather than realism; Liu Jiutong, however, employs the language of Western abstract expressionism to dissolve the boundaries between figurative and abstract, transforming the “form” of landscapes into “meaning”—as if nature itself were flowing and breathing. In Misty Light (2025), taut brushstrokes and hazy hues conjure the ethereal ambience of a water town veiled in mist. These unrestrained lines and mottled patches of colour, reminiscent of Zao Wou-Ki's abstract compositions, transcend literal representation of scenery while conveying the distinctive spirit of the water town. Flowers on Southern Branches (2024) employs expressive brushwork to depict the fusion of blossoming branches with mountain landscapes. Pink clusters of flowers against a hazy backdrop infuse Western oil painting techniques with the poetic sensibility and negative space characteristic of Chinese literati painting.

The application of lines is pivotal to constructing the structure and soul of Liu Jiutong's works. His lines are not confined to flat outlines but weave through the composition like spirited threads, breaking free from the two-dimensional constraints of traditional oil painting. They organically connect scattered colours and planar elements within the picture, enriching both the visual layers and spiritual depth of the work. In Breeze and Moonlight (2024), lines of varying thickness and curvature extend through the blue-grey mist, reaching into the depths of the composition. This invites the viewer to perceive the layered distances of the water town shrouded in fog, as if glimpsing the houses and waterways beyond, yielding a spatial depth where reality and illusion intertwine. In Misty Jiangnan (2025), delicate threads weave through blocks of pinkish-purple hues, uniting elements like Jiangnan's tiled roofs, flowering branches, and water mist into a cohesive whole. This intricate interplay reveals the painting's subtle details, allowing the region's poetic essence to intensify through the interconnected lines.

For Liu Jiutong, oil painting is no longer the exclusive medium of Western art, but rather a vessel for the soul of Eastern brushwork. Employing a gradient of blue tones to simulate the varying densities of rainfall, he sketches the misty outlines of fishermen amidst the downpour (Fisherman’s Cottage in the Rain, 2024); Through thin washes and blurring techniques, he recreates the translucent quality of “broken ink” and “splashed ink” effects; even allowing pigment to flow naturally, echoing the ethereal void-as-black principle of traditional landscape art (Hidden Realm, 2025). The rhythm of brushstrokes and the shifting hues collectively articulate Liu Jiutong's contemporary interpretation of the spirit of landscape painting, fostering a cross-cultural and trans-epochal dialogue within the language of the medium.

Under the artist's brush, mountains and waters, heavens and earth cease to be concrete symbols, becoming instead manifestations of a spiritual entity. The “formlessness” and “image-lessness” in Glided Light (2025) seem to metaphorically capture the beauty of nature and the cosmos. Through abstract expression, the artist pursues formal freedom while offering viewers boundless openness and fluidity in interpretation and perception – much like Zhuangzi's observation that “the great beauty of heaven and earth lies in their silence”. From a modern philosophical perspective, phenomenology emphasises human perception as the core means of understanding the world. Within the artist's meticulously constructed space, imbued with ethereal depth, the viewer is invited to continually seek their own unique insights into nature, the cosmos, life, and existence.