Ding Yi(b.1962) Crosses 06-b29 silver pigment on paper, Chinese fan executed in 2006 16.5 x 55 cm (6 1/2 x 21 5/8 in) fan length 30cm (11 3/4 in)
Ding Yi composed his artworks by using repetitive pattern of “cross”. His simple vision theory seems to violate all the other theories. Painting is neither a fantasy nor a figure’s reflection, but it is a direct visual effect by repeating the same pattern “cross.” Ding has developed his own abstract aesthetics, which could be layers perpendicular to cross angles, horizontal and beveled lines in composition and honest to instinct. Instead of creating a new reality, Ding chose to start from the existing means. He conceptually integrates the production and the conditions into his works. The abstract realism of these paintings has become the resolution of the work: the repeating “cross” is being reproduced for 18 years until now, like infinity. In his visual structure, he aims on a rigidly simple system instead of the traditional exaggeration form. His works are therefore regarded as the “popular education for illiterate of art”.
The repetitive yet harmonious “crosses” depicted in his work visually present the complex influences between rigidity and dynamics. Just like Chinese calligraphy, Ding Yi’s symbols signify the relationship and order between human and the universe.