| Blue-and-White (referring to the art of blue and white floral patterns and styles in “Blue-and-White Porcelains”) is the most representative cultural asset in the Far East. The blue-and-white crystallization as a form of presentation depicts everyday flora and plants representative of the Far East. When combined with contemporary symbols, an alternative visual experience of blue-and-white flora comes into being, expressing a thriving garden of life and hope specific to the Orient. When we align our being with the world, breathe together with the universe, we reach a state of completeness; such is the concept of “Be complete at any given present moment” as seen in Chinese philosophy and aesthetics. That is, “Each moment exists in a state of completeness and each fleeting moment holds an eternity.” This is a state of time and spatial transcendence experienced in moments of actually living the life, seeing the world not from the angle of matter but integrating oneself into the world. Chinese philosophy holds such view that “at each given moment, one is complete, not bereft of anything.” A little flower at a desolate far corner with no stunning color may be looked upon as defective, but each flower has its reason and value in its existence, which will not alter due to a person’s opinions. We need to learn to let go of judging from a person’s perspectives but see things from the perspective of each life, be it an object or a plant. When each life is allowed to freely go with the flow, we will then be moved like how a poet is and we will discover a complete universe, a meaningful world, within a little flower. This idea is thus called “Within a flower contains a universe; within a grass exists a kingdom.” In this Blue-and-White Garden, each flower and blade of grass tells its own story and each thrives with hope, embodying the Eastern philosophy of “being complete and at ease at any given moment.” |
