Over the past decade, my work has focused on how traditional Chinese calligraphy techniques and brushstroke algorithms can capture the essence of nature. Delving into generative art has further enriched this exploration. I have been slow to discuss my work and research in its entirety, especially before publication. However, as I begin to consider this novel way of framing and explaining traditional Chinese calligraphy as a systems-based art, it feels timely to open a greater discourse.
Nature, by its very design, operates according to its own algorithms, evident in fractal patterns and complex formations that reveal intricate rhythms. Benoit Mandelbrot, the pioneer of fractal geometry, famously noted that nature’s visual splendour is composed of “the same shapes repeated everywhere, yet each repetition is slightly different. Compared to true fractals, its structures are more varied, its harmonies richer, and its surprises more surprising”.
Traditional Chinese calligraphy, with its origins rooted in the natural world, mirrors this fractal and algorithmic nature. Each character is formed by fundamental brushstrokes repeated in various iterations, adhering to specific rules to create the whole. These same strokes also serve as the foundation for traditional Chinese landscape painting.
In 2017, Wen Xing wrote The Fractal Nature of Chinese Calligraphy, a concise article that supports my creative research by similarly identifying Chinese calligraphy as algorithmic. Both my scholarly and practice-led investigation and Wen Xing's discourse pioneer the idea that Chinese calligraphy can be understood through the lens of its primordial algorithm. To exemplify this, Wen Xing presents a diagram (pictured above) of a Barnsley fern at its 12th, 8th, and 2nd iterations in relation to the Chinese character 永(Yong). 永 (Yong), meaning "permanence", is uniquely significant because it embodies the eight fundamental strokes common to traditional Chinese calligraphic writing and painting. Barnsley's fern, named after British mathematician Michael Barnsley, is described in his book Fractals Everywhere as a fractal and self-similar set—a mathematically generated pattern reproducible at any scale.
The diagram of the Barnsley fern in Wen Xing's article reflects the capacity for Chinese calligraphic strokes to embody nature’s innate algorithm. This is also evident in my 2017 body of paintings on rice paper and linen, Liminal Space, and further developed in my subsequent collections Infinity Matrix and Infinity Landscapes. These works explore traditional Chinese calligraphy techniques and brushstrokes as sophisticated algorithms that embody nature. This is exemplified in my Untitled work-in-progress (2023-2024) held in parallel with a bamboo forest I photographed in Bali, (pictured below). However, there is far more to this exploration than that.
There is a reciprocity evident in the capacity of this ancient artfrom to reveal 天理 (li)—the unseen or veiled cosmic truth within nature.
While the diagram of the Barnsley fern cited by Wen Xing employs computer assistance, my paintings are more traditionally executed. They are meticulously generated calligraphic iterations made by hand, often on a large scale. In my work, time, attention, and the human body and mind are essential elements deeply embedded in the creative process. My research recognizes a dual reciprocity inherent in the discipline of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting, both for the artist and the audience. There is a reciprocity evident in the capacity of this ancient artform to reveal 天理 (li)—the unseen or veiled cosmic truth within nature. Additionally, 天理 (li) manifests in the continuity of ritual processes and methodologies of traditional Chinese painting, which I assert in my research as cultivating the individual through disciplined practice at a bio-mechanical level.
In examining this ancient Chinese field of knowledge through the lens of its systems, as a generative art algorithmic in nature, and employing it in contemporary contexts and practices, it becomes crucial to take into account the limitations of such categorisation and classification. Wen Xing importantly presents Chinese calligraphy as more than just an art form, stating it is "a cosmology and a philosophy". While the strokes of traditional Chinese calligraphy may appear elegantly simple on the surface, it is vital that this ancient source of knowledge is not divorced from its intricate cultural, philosophical, and historical contexts. Acknowledging the complexity of its traditional foundations and its deep connections to cultural and philosophical roots is fundamental. Wen Xing highlights the significance of the I-Ching, the Fuxi Sixty-four Hexagram Diagram, selected trigrams, tetragrams, hexagrams, the Cantorian triadic bar, and the cultural concept of Yin Yang. Similarly, my own work devotes significant time and attention to appreciating traditional Chinese painting through the complex conceptual framework that underpins it.
The importance of a deep and rigorous understanding of this cultural knowledge also underscores the necessity of exercising caution against its misappropriation and oversimplification. This topic is extensively discussed in my thesis and is part of a broader dialogue within contemporary scholarly discourse on traditional Chinese art, particularly how it is interpreted and utilized outside its traditional contexts. It is important to state that I do not wield the calligraphic strokes lightly, nor do I speak of the philosophy that underpins them with anything but great respect and reverence.
Serious consideration of the intent and outcomes of any theoretical and creative dialogue around ancient fields of knowledge and associated cultural practices is required. While my creative practice works within the tradition of Chinese painting, its purpose, alongside my broader scholarly research, is to embody, illuminate, and fortify the Chinese painting tradition and the incredible knowledge it embodies. Most importantly, the theoretical and academic elements of my work will be rigorously assessed and scrutinized by experts in the field before being accepted as a valid contribution. This is one of the reasons—aside from being unpublished intellectual property—why I am conservative in sharing my work in its entirety. The practice of rigor in academia has been instrumental in shaping my creative outputs and the way I present and discuss them—slowly and with due consideration.
There is a responsibility in the rapid pursuit to develop, interpret, understand, and enrich fields of knowledge, ensuring that cultural heritage does not become mere fodder for the future. Art is a modality of inquiry that can speak with great authority. Navigating this reality as a creative community, especially one that widely self-publishes, is crucial.
Regarding the subject of the fractal nature of Chinese calligraphy, there is cultural and intellectual complexity that must be considered, well beyond a tweet or even a well-penned article. As new territory is traversed and novel ways of thinking about and sharing knowledge emerge, there is much validity in slowness and giving occasion for both pause and due diligence.