異托邦與朦朧之境   LUPA在《異遊記事》中的液態療癒      

文/王玉善 

  呂紹瑜（ Crystal Lupa，b.1989 ）畢業於倫敦藝術大學-中央聖馬汀學院，擅長使用半具象與半抽象的手法，搭配多元媒介進行創作，作品風格游離於魔幻與奇幻之間。LUPA近年來聚焦關注於純藝術的創作路徑上；從2019-2020年間的個展《青絲白夢》、《花燁》、《棲夢幻室》，至2022年的《人間勿語》，再到2024年的《異遊記事》中，逐漸可以觀察到其不斷的透過對於基底材與繪畫層的研究，實踐到她極具個人符號的主題及視覺效果當中，包含人與獸、花卉、沙漠、洞穴、岩層肌理、瀑布、噴泉、湖泊、大地、髮絲、神話及深層的想像之境等，抑或是帶有一些東方神秘主義與原始主義（Primitivism）的母題形象。

液態療癒

    在過去討論LUPA特質的專文中，我們可以發現藝術家透過研究瑞士心理學家榮格（Carl Gustav Jung）的集體無意識，描繪出如《波瑟芬妮》等以人格原型為主題的作品，並將其神話內容和自我的生命經驗對應後，轉化為具有治癒性質的寓意。不過其療癒性不僅是圖像與文本之間的對譯關係，當我們更深層的觀看其創作的表裏結構時，會發現在內容上因筆法產生液態般的意識流動狀態時，與畫面中微妙色彩上的濃淡變化產生連動，進而讓背景（空氣）和主體（固體）之間「邊緣」的處理，呈現時而模糊，時而明確的互動狀態。這個狀態近似於身處於當代生活中的我們，感受到的「液態現代性」（Liquid Modernity）之社會現象，並藉由畫面氛圍營造，創作質地上的轉換，進一步的象徵親密關係中，某些層次上脆弱易碎的面貌。「液態現代性」於二十一世紀初期，由波蘭社會學家包曼（Zygmunt Bauman）提出，主體說明了當代社會的特質；在液態時代當中，人類接受科技發展帶來生活便利，重視時間的速度與彈性，但也導致自身逐漸失去對於人際關係經營的能力，個體與群體之間存在著脆弱性，我們一方面想要鞏固人與人之間的關係樞紐，但卻又有著想要將其鬆綁的衝突性‮١}‬望。儘管如此，LUPA並不是想要去提出關於社會狀態的某些問題，而是反身性的邀請觀者進入這個似輕似重的情境後，試著以理解和包容的心境，映照出祈望般的念想。如同藝術家曾言：「火焰並非象徵恐慌，與之對應的是重生之後，某些狀態的消逝。其近乎於煉金，重新賦予生命。」

而此類面對現代生活經驗的感知，也體現於藝術家近期看似東方當代變體肖像畫、電影海報般的創作當中，其將畫面人物的情緒勾勒，轉化為一種輕盈的表現。整體而言，LUPA將時代氛圍中矛盾且難以解決的處境，詮釋於具有治癒性的均質美學當中，其一方面反映了液態般的現代性經驗，同時也在這個過程中不斷賦予它新的可能性。

異托邦與朦朧之境

    LUPA藉由對於繪畫材料的研究，在顏料滲入纖維之中的同時，保留了布的紋理狀態，同時也與其低飽和度的色彩系統融合，展現出朦朧與輕柔的效果，並在搭配她介於奇幻與魔幻寫實之間的敘事手法及構圖後，她的畫面如同被施了魔法般，吸引著觀者進入一個異托邦；在LUPA形塑的這個異質空間中，充滿了真實與虛幻交錯的既視感（Déjà Vu）。觀者可以透過畫中的內容與現實世界產生對比，進而產生現實與神話之間的對話關係，如同作品《鏡生系列》的成像，鏡子原先作為與鏡內空間相互對應的真實性，被藝術家巧妙的進行了轉換，鏡內空間成為了反映凝視鏡影者當下心理意識的真實存在面貌，而鏡子本身作為引導觀者注意到現實世界和幻想空間的功能及角色，反而被逐漸地模糊化。《鏡生系列》彼此之間蘊含分鏡概念，它們探照著時間軸線發展之下的劇情結構與動態感。

    儘管LUPA圖像系統發展語彙，看似以西方媒材和跨文化主體進行表述，但卻仍然具有東方思維的內斂特質；它被以非單一性的透視或散點透視，搭配虛化、留白的場域空間和特殊的繪畫手法與細節處理進行呈現。特別是在以點狀漂色去除顏料來描繪星空、斑點與光線後，營造出朦朧與虛實交錯之風景中所散發出邊緣粉質的光暈感，以及因即興沾染的多彩筆觸描繪緞帶般的花瓣、葉脈、髮絲、礦石等，時而濃厚堆疊，時而朦朧透明；就像是在動態構成中塑造出和諧與寧靜的意象，並呈現出聲音意識的狀態，這些隱藏於圖像肌理背後的深層知覺，都有屬於自我的頻率，它們持續觸動著觀者的心像，不停迴放無聲之聲。

Heterotopia and a Hazy Realm - The Liquid Healing in EXOTICA

by Shwan Wang

Crystal Lupa (b. 1989) holds a BFA from Central Saint Martins in London. Known for her semi-figurative and semi-abstract approach to painting as well as a combination of diverse media, her artistic style is a mixture of the magical and the fantastic. Over the past few years, Lupa has steadfastly stayed on the course of making fine art. From her solo exhibitions in recent years, including Raven Strands & White Dreams (2019), The Blaze of Flowers, Habitat of Illusion (both 2020), The Unspoken Tales (2022), and her latest endeavor, Exotica (2024), one can gradually perceive that her continuous research about the substrate and the painting surface has informed her choices of topics and formulation of visual effect, both of which are extensively informed by her idiosyncratic symbolism, ranging from human, animal, flower, desert, cave, texture of stone, waterfall, fountain, lake, earth, strands of hair, mythology, and deep realms born out of imagination, along with motifs and imageries shaped by Eastern occultism and primitivism. 

Liquid Healing

In several essays discussing the characteristics of Lupa’s work, it can be observed that Lupa has studied Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious to create works themed on the concept of archetypes, such as Persephone, and associates the story of Hades’s bride with her own life experience, transforming the mythology into a therapeutic fable. However, the healing quality of Lupa’s work does not merely stem from the interpretive correlation between image and text. A further examination of the surface and internal structure of her work brings new revelations: content-wise, her brushwork engenders a fluid state reminiscent of the flow of consciousness, which becomes interconnected with the subtle change of color shades. Such interconnection introduces an interactive quality to the handling of the “edge” between the background (air) and the subject (solid matter), rendering it blurry at times and clear at others. This state is similar to the social phenomenon described as the “liquid modernity,” which we all feel in contemporary life. The constructed atmosphere and textural change of Lupa’s work symbolize the fragility and vulnerability of certain levels in our intimate and personal relationships. In the early 21st century, the Polish sociologist, Zygmunt Bauman, proposed the idea of “liquid modernity” that encapsulates the characteristics of contemporary society. In this liquid era, human beings enjoy the convenience enabled by technological advancement and consequently embrace the value of temporal speed and flexibility, which, in turn, also leads to our loss of ability to manage interpersonal relationships. Vulnerability can be found in relationships between individuals and the collective. On the one hand, we want to consolidate our relationships with people, but on the other hand, we have a conflicting desire to loosen ourselves from these relationships.

Despite this, LUPA does not aim to point out any problems in society. Instead, she reflexively engages spectators in this ambiguous situation, attempting to convey hopeful thoughts through an understanding and tolerant state of mind. “The fire does not symbolize the feeling of panic or fear but the disappearance of certain states after the subsequent rebirth. This process is comparable to that of alchemy and re-gives life,” states the artist. Such a perception of modern life experience is embodied by the artist’s recent creations that share similarities with Eastern contemporary variant portraits and movie posters, in which she delineates the emotions of the figures in the images in a rather light and delicate manner. Generally speaking, Lupa interprets the contradictory, unresolvable circumstances in contemporary times with a homogenous aesthetics that is therapeutic and reflective of the liquid modern experience while consistently giving it new possibilities throughout the process. 

Heterotopia and a Hazy Realm

Through her study of painting materials, as the paint sieves into the fiber of the canvas, LUPA manages to preserve the canvas’s texture. Meanwhile, she uses and integrates a low-saturated palette to produce a hazy, soft effect, which is coupled with her semi-fantastic, semi-magic realist narratives and compositions to give rise to enchanted images that transport spectators into a heterotopia. This heterogeneous realm crafted by LUPA is permeated with the feeling of déjà vu that blends reality and illusion. Spectators can compare the images of her painting and the real world to engage in a dialogue between reality and mythology. An example is the images of her painting series, Fragments of Memory - the space inside the mirror is supposed to offer a realistic reflection. However, through the artist’s subtle conversion, the space within the looking glass becomes a real existence that serves to reflect the psyche and consciousness of those gazing into such a space. The functional role of a mirror, which is supposed to direct spectators’ attention to the corresponding relationship between the real world and the imaginary space, is contrarily and increasingly blurred. Like a storyboard, the works in the Fragments of Memory series comprise a narrative structure and dynamics that are developed along a timeline. 

Although the language revealed by the development of LUPA’s image system seems to be structured using Western media and the expression of an intercultural subject, her work still exudes a subtle quality that is characteristic of Eastern thinking. Delineated through a non-singular perspective or a multi-point perspective, and combined with ethereal, blank space, her work demonstrates distinctive painting techniques and handling of detail. Specifically, the starry sky, spots, and rays of light depicted by removing paint through bleached dots unveil a hazy landscape posited between virtuality and physicality and with a unique halo-like glow that appears powdery around the edge. Moreover, the ribbon-like flower petals, leaf veins, hair strands, and stones portrayed with spontaneous and colorful brushstrokes sometimes look thickly layered but, at other times, hazy and semi-translucent. In short, her painting conveys the imagery of harmony and serenity constructed through a dynamic process while visualizing the state of the sonic consciousness. These sensory perceptions embedded deeply in the texture of her images all have separate frequencies that resonate with spectators’ mental imagery, forming endless but soundless echoes.