Liang Zhaoxi (Leung Siu Hay) (b.1953) Melons ink and charcoal on paper mounted on canvas executed in 1997 110x110 cm (43 1/4 x 43 1/4 in)
Born in Solomon Islands, Liang Zhaoxi was educated in Hong Kong in his early years and was graduated from National Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, in which he has lived in France for years. He has unique style in black and white charcoal painting by combining the techniques in western realism and the quality of Chinese literati. He excels in bringing out a passage of time and space with complicated stroke and exquisite texture, which was highly praised by the art critics and connoisseurs in the 1990s. Liang Zhaoxi’s works combine the technique of black and white charcoal painting and sketching, creating a classical poetic sense similar to the landscape paintings in Northern Song Dynasty. Liang condenses the memory in the layers of the charcoal painting, expressing the helpless and sentimental feeling towards the short journey of life. He shows the blossoms and withered flowers to symbolize not only the life cycle but also the trace of time hidden in still objects. All of these reveal the metaphysical spirit that goes beyond a concrete image, allowing the viewers to have indefinite imagination in their minds.