He Tian

Creative Inspiration

His works are mostly focused on themes of grass and forests, with a research direction that incorporates elements of wind, water, and metaphysical principles. Grass, as a layered ecological category within the wild and untamed natural clusters, fascinates him. He is devoted to using brushstrokes to depict the contemplation and tranquility of grass.

The charm of He Tian's work comes from how he integrates his personal growth insights and years of perception of the world into the plants of nature, conveying a clear and genuine state of mind of the youth. On another level, his works are also a bold breakthrough in classical painting techniques, imbuing natural objects with human sentiment. The painter uses silent brushwork to express a profound sigh towards contemporary culture.

In his paintings, the wild grass on the land, as a natural element, is infused with surreal blood and flesh—sometimes ordinary, sometimes sorrowful, almost as if branded with the stamp of a fable. It autonomously carries the silent blood and flesh that introduces itself into the painting form, constructing its own unique history and world. In "Grass", our gaze constantly shifts from visual attention to the painted object to a focus on concepts. The green grass, emerging from the reality of images that cannot be fully fixed, becomes an abstract metaphysical object.

We think we are watching the details of the grass, but are we not also focusing on a colossal presence? The image of a blade of grass has long detached itself from the human perspective and become an entirely independent subject, one that makes its own dimensional decisions. Therefore, its form is not a visual detail that can be captured through effort, but a redefined painting unit with new size and scale. Grass becomes a medium and interface, where the artist processes diverse, personal, and contradictory events or factors into the only world of grass he sees. The grass is used to explain this new world, which he has digested. Lines, in a disordered yet rhythmic collection, entwine on the canvas, forming a boundless network of relationships in the painting. Grass evolves into a pure painting dimension unit. It is transformed from a growing element in the natural world into a coordinate scale on the painting’s plane. Its length, curvature, and subtle color changes all correspond to the newly constructed visual system of the whole. Within this construction, we can see how an ordinary object outside of painting becomes intimately transformed into a manifestation of human will. When we return to real life, we realize that, under our established understanding, the world undergoes subtle changes due to the operations of painting.

Grass, which has existed since the unknown past, those countless rhythmic grasses, have become the spiritual drive for He Tian's painting. Perhaps this is what painting brings to the artist and the world unconsciously. As a result, these close-up portraits of grass become an enticing gateway to exploring the artist. I often find myself more intrigued by He Tian’s personality through these works, but I habitually set it aside, preferring to keep a deeper and more subtle mystery.

Exhibition Experience

2024《瞬间即永恒》何田&袁乐双人展 千雪里美画廊 上海

2024 《我与我的游戏》 一时画廊 北京

2023《发展绘画以免落后生活》作者画廊 北京
2023 《积水成渊》惟典画廊
2023 上海西岸艺术博览会
2023 艺术厦门 ， 作者画廊
2023 《Essence of the world》 sensgallery 香港
2023 《内观》 北京正大宝库
2023 艺术深圳 ，野松画廊
2023 冉起当代 ，上海，野松画廊
2023 上海创变设计节
2023 北京当代艺术博览会
2022 为明天做准备，八大画廊，上海，中国
2022 陆地微光，可⻅光艺术空间，上海，中国

2022 无我之地，Crossing Art纽约空间，纽约美国
2021 自然之序:感觉于真实，Object Momento ，上海，中国 2021 上海甘一当代艺术博览会, 上海，中国
2021 艺术深圳博览会，深圳，中国
2020 艺览北京