四年之后
　　我曾经对黄莺的作品有这样的评价：“黄莺的笔下，无论是人体还是花卉，都没有那种奇怪的变形，但又不是写实的描绘，而是经过精心提炼，把它归纳和放大之后的象征性造型。所谓象征性，就是通过具体的形象经过渲染的氛围，向更为深远的世界托思传情。”概括的说，象征的意思就是用具体事物表现某些抽象的含意。借用某种具体的形象的事物暗示特定的人物或事理，以表达真挚的感情和深刻的寓意，这种以物征事的艺术表现手法叫象征。黄莺经过两年多的思考和创作，已经以全新的面貌出现，那么新，新在哪里？
　　我在4年前给黄莺的作品写过一篇短文，叫“落下，倚隈或漂流——黄莺的绘画”，在提笔再次为她的新作撰文时，很自然的要找出那篇旧作看一遍，这不是因为我恋旧，而是要对照一下黄莺今天的作品和以往有什么区别？而我那时的评价是否正确，让我感觉庆幸的是，我从她的作品里发现的一些概念和关键词，不只是一种简单的延续，而是演变成为她作品的风格。比如说，我在文章中指出她的作品有象征性倾向和性暗示，那么新作中有没有呢？回答是肯定的，其实何止是有，而且成规模、巨大化、史诗般。
　　超越绘画
　　首先是黄莺放弃了油画，而改用数码绘画的手法，放弃了油画并不等于放弃了绘画，实际上她现在的作品仍然具有很强的绘画特征。那么在这里我们又涉及到一个概念就是什么是绘画？
　　绘画是一种在二维的平面上以手工方式临摹自然或者对自然进行夸张或提炼的艺术，所谓手工的方式就是指使用画家或艺术家身体的一部分进行创作，当然绘画大致分为抽象和具象两种，可是人类最初确立的绘画的概念大都是模仿真实的场景，只是在20世纪高超的摄影术普及之后，绘画开始向表现自我的方向倾斜。而那种只是模仿自然的绘画就被边缘化，和被视为绘画中的行活。
　　摄影术的出现对绘画构成巨大的挑战，但不等于绘画就轻易的退出历史舞台，绘画上的表现主义问世就是绘画的异变，当然象征主义绘画也是绘画史上的重要现象。因此我们可以以毫无嫉妒的态度来平心说说摄影术的问世，如果没有它的问世，绘画单纯描摹自然的历史还会继续下去，那么可以说：“天不降写真，绘画长如夜”。绘画向内心的挖掘，用寓意来呈现深刻，通过视觉语言丰富人们的联想，这些都是托摄影的福。
　　像所有艺术的门类一样，一种技术的出现，首先遵循的逻辑是记录性优先。摄影的问世时也不例外。有趣的是它和绘画演变的路如出一辙，也就是就是先从记录开始演变成具有主观表现性的摄影。当摄影和绘画在某一时刻相逢交叉时，就会出现新的艺术，当这种新的艺术是以数码技术为主导的话，那就变成了数码绘画，只是用数码绘画来定位黄莺的艺术还是不够的，因为它不能涵盖黄莺新的作品《嬗》和《仙镜》中最突出的特点象征性，所以我把黄莺的作品称为“象征主义数码绘画”。
　　刷新美学
　　“象征主义数码绘画”这个名词在以往的批评和艺术史上并没人使用过，但这无关紧要，因为批评家的责任原本就包括去创造新的词汇来解释艺术界出现的新问题。而象征主义数码绘画诞生的一个主要原因是数码摄影和相应软件技术的进步带来的，技术的进步和革新，常常催生艺术家产生新的美学，而在雕塑和装置艺术家那里，新的工业性材料有时也决定了新的美学诞生的范围。
　　在这里，好像是由于制作作品的技术和美学让批评有了新的地标，其实批评永远是滞后的，因为它的声音一定是在作品产生之后或事情发生之后，而不是之前。批评或评论的性质是帮助人们去理解或引到读者去解读作品的寓意和更为深邃的层次。那么，在黄莺的作品中，象征的表现效果，其实是以重复单一孤独的个体的形式，和复杂开阔的场景，以及梦幻般的描述，来表白艺术家自身，对人生、对外界、对内心、对梦境、对环境、对温度、对轮回、对阴阳、对意识、对象征物、对气候、对漂泊、对灾难、对孤独、对惊恐、对坠落、对空旷、对返璞、对噪音、对骚动、对干扰、对镜像、对液体、对他物、对触觉、对嫉妒、对自恋、对符号化建筑所持的态度和呈现。这些如同史诗般的画面，承载了无限的信息，包含着诸多复杂的因素，寓意深刻，丰富人们的联想。如果观看者不小心，就会漏掉一些出在远景中的小人，而这些小人在黄莺的笔下如同小精灵在点景。

　　传统生辉
　　我注意到黄莺是在试图突破自己原来在油画上那种单一的表现，以及绘画的技术手段——油画所带来的限制，而改用数字摄影和拼贴的方式，来让画面更加宏伟壮阔。好像引入数字技术对原来的绘画和写真都构成挑战，但是，黄莺的作品并不是只看未来，而是有许多要素暗示是一种回归。比如，她从原来在油画上的多种色彩，一下子转换为黑白场景，它让我想起中国的水墨画。无论是横竖不同的构图，都让我感觉是来自传统的山和水的风景。只是黄莺不用皴法，而是用数字技术来表现空间和浓淡。这种和传统美学的暗合，或许不是有意识的，但它确实存在，我们权当为隐形吧。
　　其实黄莺绘画手段的变化，也和她以前的经历有关，如果不是对影像有兴趣，她不会选择电影学院去学习，之所以没有继续，那是因为她的性格所至。黄莺不喜欢合群，对关注他者甚至连意识到他者的存在都没有兴趣，这些从她的作品中可以看出来。无论是过去的油画还是现在的数字技术的绘画，都能看到她性格孤僻的一面，这没有任何贬义，反而是这些作品让我们窥视到她心灵的深处和自白。艺术的真实和虚伪，常常成为艺术作品有无艺术魅力的分水岭，黄莺最新作品能够引起关注的原因，和这些不无关系。真正的批评对艺术作品没有成见，它只需要面对真实，因此，我的批评原则是，你可以不成熟，因为所有的探索和实验本身就存在不成熟和不稳定的因素，但是绘画者的动机是重要的。好的女性艺术家的杰作，大都出自他们身体自身和内心的感受，她们的表现体现在对自身的挖掘，可能这和女性的身体和性别有关，本来我们无需对男女性艺术加以强调，如果确实需要议论的话，那么我只对先前说的这一点有感触。
　　象征主义的起源
　　把黄莺的作品，定位在象征主义绘画的范畴，首先是它具有明显的象征主义特征。
　　象征主义的起源，可以追溯到19世纪末的欧洲，当时欧洲一部分知识分子对社会生活和官方沙龙文化不满。他们不敢正视现实，不愿直接表述自己的意思，往往采用象征和寓意的手法，在幻想中虚构另外的世界，抒发自己的愿望，这样便产生了近代象征性的艺术。而象征主义第一次的出现是1886年，原籍希腊的年轻笔名诗人让·莫雷亚斯（JeanMoreas1856——1910）发表了《象征主义宣言》，宣言中用“象征主义者”这个称号来称呼当时的前卫诗人。这篇宣言获得广泛热烈的响应，文学史上认为这一事件标志着象征主义流派的产生。象征派在艺术上受英国拉斐尔前派和法国象征派诗人斯特芳·马拉美（Stephane Mallarme，1842——1898）、夏尔·波德莱尔（Charles Baudelaire1821——1867），音乐家威廉·理查德·瓦格纳（Wilhelm Richard Wagner，1813——1883）及尼采（Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche，1844——1900）主观唯心主义思想的影响。那么画家就是摩罗（GUSTAW MOREAN，1826——1898）、夏凡纳（PUVIISDE CHAVANNES，1824——l898）和雷东（ODILON REDON，1840——1916）

　　艺术的坐标
　　象征派主张强调主观、个性，以心灵的想象创造某种带有暗示和象征性的神奇画面，这种画面显然是和真实的画面相反的，象征派是通过特定形象的综合来表达自己的观念和内在的精神世界。而在黄莺的作品中，特定形象就是她自己。象征主义的手法还有：暗示多于解释，含蓄多于直接。象征主义不追求单纯的明朗，也不故意追求晦涩；它所追求的是半明半暗，明暗配合，扑朔迷离。象征主义者反对现实主义和自然主义者如实地描写客观现实。他们认为现实的物质世界是虚幻而痛苦的，只有隐匿在背后的内在的世界才是真实的。作品中运用大量的暗示和象征来隐喻表现人的内心世界。
　　象征主义主要以抒写个人感情为重点，但是它和浪漫主义的抒情大不一样，它抒写的是不可捉摸的内心隐秘，表现隐藏在普通事物背后的真实。象征主义不满足于描绘事物的明确的线条和固定的轮廓，它所追求的是艺术的感染力，
　　黄莺的象征主义数码绘画特征表现在：它否定真实和客观地描写现实，虽然画面出现一些建筑物和物体：如长城、紫禁城和典型的中国亭子等，但黄莺只是把它作为道具和场景，实际是强调表现直觉和幻想，主观性与内向性，追求所谓内心的“最高的真实”。画中象征主义绘画中经常采用的象征、暗示、隐喻等表现手法处处可见。通过黄莺和别人的对话，可以知道她对现实世界的态度是怀疑的，即认为现实世界是不可信的，她的画明确的表示她的追求点不在现实世界，而在远离现实的另外一种更真实的世界，冰川、河流、山峦、只有象征性绘画才能认识和把握它所执迷的那一个世界，黄莺要追求超现实的真实，让人在意识和潜意识之间交互。看上去，黄莺的世界是封闭的，但她注重的是对以自己的情感作为内循环的世界给予感伤性的诗意表达。她不是以客观的观察为基础，而是超越外表通过直觉的内在力量和想象重构画面。
　　总之，作品是阶段性的，思考是持久的。这就是片段和整体的关系。

 2011.12.15
（作者：独立策展人，艺术评论家）　

　Frozen Flowers:Huang Ying's Symbolist Digital Paintings

　　Four Years Later

　　I had given the following comments for Huang Ying's works before: "under her brushes, neither human bodies nor flowers and plants are deformed, yet nothing is painted realistically; her figures are symbols that have gone through careful distillation and extraction, and then are enlarged and rearranged, giving a seemingly representational figure the air to link with the far-reaching world." In general, symbolic means the representation of abstract meanings through the use of specific figures. The act of using a specific figure to imply certain people or events in order to express genuine sentiments and profound messages is called Symbolism. After two years of accretion, Huang Ying presents herself with a brand new outlook; but where are the new features?
　　Four years ago, I wrote a short article called "Falling, Drifting or Leaning against - Huang Ying's Paintings". When I started to work on this new commentary article for her new works, I took out the old one to review, not to reminisce, but to compare to see the differences in her works and whether my comments before were correct and fair. I was rejoiced to see that certain concepts and keywords in her past works have not only remained, but have also gradually developed into a part of her unique style. For example, in my past article, I pointed out that her works contained symbolism characteristics and sexual implications; these traits are now represented in a scope of unprecedented, epic-like manner.

　　Beyond Paintings

　　Although Huang Ying started to use digital paintings rather than traditional oil paintings as her media of expression, her works still holds strong traditional painting characteristics. Now here we come across the confusion of the definition of paintings. Painting is the act of portraying or manifesting the practitioner's conceptual abstraction and extraction of nature through physical medium. The before-mentioned physical medium means that the painter or artist creates the artwork using a part of his or her body. Despite the fact that paintings can roughly be sorted into two categories: abstract and figural, at the time when the concept of paintings was first established, only the figural part was included. Only when the widely prevalent photography gained its acknowledgement as the better agent for documentation did paintings start to lean toward the direction of self-expression. Gradually, works that only mimics nature are marginalized.
　　The invention of photography presented almost devastating challenges to artists; however, this did not mean that paintings were bound to retire from the stage of history. The birth of Expressionism, and of course, Symbolism too, represented phenomena that constituted a new era of change in the history of painting. Therefore, with a placid manner we could say that if not for the development of photography, paintings would still be centering on the portrayals of nature for documentation. It could be said that "without the birth of photography, paintings would need to endure many more dark and lonely nights." Contemporary paintings' tendencies to dive deep into one's inner self, to symbolize meanings，and to enrich one's imaginations through visual languages happened thanks to the success of photography.
　　Similar to other categories of fine arts, one technique would follow the logic of prioritizing documentation when it first appears; the same goes for photography. Interestingly, the evolution of photography accords with that of painting, which means that photography would gradually move from objective documentation to subjective expressions. When photography and painting come across each other at some point, a new form of art emerges; if this new form is dominated by digital technology, then a new aesthetic named digital painting emerges. However, it is inadequate to just label Huang Ying's works with digital paintings; the most prominent characteristic of her new works Metamorphosis and My Mirrored Realm is their symbolic meanings. Therefore, I call her works "symbolic digital paintings".

　　Refreshing Aesthetics

　　"Symbolic digital painting" is a word nobody has ever used before in art history, but this does not matter because one big responsibility of a critic is to create new vocabulary to describe new problems that happen in the art world. The birth of symbolic digital paintings was brought forth by the advancement of digital photography and its corresponding software technologies. Technology development and innovation often produce new forms of aesthetics; in the field of sculpture and installation artists, new industrial materials sometimes define the range of the birth of new aesthetics.
　　It seems that new mile-stones in commentary and criticism are set due to the development of technology and aesthetics, but it cannot be denied that criticism only happen after, not before, the art work was being produced. The nature of commentary or criticism is to guide the audiences to unravel the obscure messages hidden behind the deeper level of the art works. In Huang Ying's works, the impact of symbols is manifested through the format of repeated solitary individuals, complex scenes, and the artist's dreamlike depictions, to deliver the artist's attitudes toward life, toward the external world, toward dreams, toward the environment, toward temperature, toward reincarnation, toward yin and yang, toward consciousness, toward symbols, toward climate, toward migration, toward catastrophes, toward loneliness, toward fright, toward falling, toward hollowness, toward reverting to innate character, toward noise, toward agitation, toward disturbance, toward mirror images, toward liquid, toward other objects, toward tactility, toward jealousy, toward narcissism, and toward symbolic architecture. These epic scenes embrace such large amounts of information, which comprises of intricate elements that possess deeper meanings and stimulates the audiences' imaginations. If an audience is not carefully enough, he or she may easily miss out some fairy-like characters painted in the distant view.

　　Glorified Traditions

　　I noticed that by using digital photography and collage as the media to increase the magnificence of the scenes, Huang Ying tries to break through her previous singular mode of expression and the limitations set forth by painting techniques. In spite of the fact that the introduction of digital techniques to her works would surely present challenges to her original paintings and portraits, Huang Ying's works not only looks into the future, but also contains elements that implies regression. For instance, the transformation from multi-colored oil paintings to black-and -white scenes strongly reminds me of Chinese ink and wash paintings. Both vertical and horizontal compositions bring the traditional water and mountain landscape to my mind. Although Huang Ying does not use traditional brushworks to represent space and concentration, she uses digital techniques instead. This coincidence may not be intentional, but it is present, so we may as well treat it as it is invisible.
　　In fact, Huang Ying's change of painting media is closely associated with her previous experiences. If not for her interest in photography she would not choose to study in the Beijing Film Academy. However, her nature proved to be an obstacle for her to further her study or career in this field; both her past oil paintings and her present digital paintings imply and provide the opportunity for audiences to peer into, not in a derogatory sense, the passive and eccentric parts of her traits. The sincerity of art often serves as a key to inspire artistic charm; one reason that Huang Ying's works attracted so much attention is her sincerity. Great comments and critiques should be impartial to art works; they should be focusing more on facing the truth. Therefore, one of my critic principles is: "whether the works are mature or not is relatively unimportant, because exploration and experimentation themselves contain uncertainties; what is truly important is the artists' intentions and motivations." Masterpieces created by distinguished female artists often embrace their true experiences and innate feelings. These associations often are presented through the artists' own comprehension of their innate self. Although we have no need to emphasize on the gender of artists and their artistic works, I am just expressing some of my thoughts over the issue if we have the need to talk about it.

　　The Birth of Symbolism

　　Huang Ying's works can be categorized as Symbolists because they possess obvious symbolistic features.
　　The Birth of Symbolisms dates back to the late 19th Century Europe, where many artists expressed their discontents toward their social life and the official salon culture because they feared to directly do so. They built an imaginary world to express their dreams and desires, thereby acting as precursors of modern Symbolism art. Symbolism first appeared in 1886, when a young Greek poet named Jean Moreas (1856-1910) first published the Symbolist Manifesto. The term "symbolist" was first applied to poets by Jean Moreas to distinguish them from the rest. This manifesto received fervent responses and in literature, this act was regarded as the sign of the birth of Symbolism. Symbolist art received great influences from Subjective Idealism, which was highly thought of by the British Pre-Raphaelite and French Symbolist poets Stephane Mallarme (1842-1898) and Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), musicians Wihelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900), and artists Gustaw Morean (1826-1898), Puviis De Chavannes (1824-1898) and Odilon Redon (1840-1916).

　　Artistic Coordinates

　　Symbolism was a reaction in favor of subjectivity, individuality, and the creation of implied and symbolic scenes through spiritual imaginations. These scenes were often opposite of reality and were created to express the ideals and the artists' innate spiritual world through specific figures. In Huang Ying's works, the figure is herself. The Symbolic techniques included implication more than explanation and implicitness over explicitness. The Symbolists were in pursuit of neither straightforwardness nor obscurity, but mystified divulgence. Symbolists disagreed with the objective manner naturalists and realists depict the world with. They consider the real world being imaginary and painful while the inner world, which was hidden behind, is reality. In their works, large amount of implications and symbols were used to convey man's inner world.
　　Symbolists emphasize on the articulation of personal feelings; however, different from the Romanticism expressions, symbolists try to express their intangible secrets and the truth hidden behind the norms. Moreover, they are unsatisfied with just drawing out the object contours; they are in pursuit of artistic charm and fascination.
　　The characteristics of Huang Ying's symbolist digital paintings are manifested in the fact of whether her works are in denial of reality or are objectively depicting reality. Although some buildings such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and traditional Chinese Pavilions do appear in the scenes of her works, Huang Ying just treats them as costumes that provide emphasis and contrast on intuition and illusion, subjectivity and introversion; this eventually leads to her finding of the "ultimate truth". Symbolist techniques such as motifs, implications, and metaphorical expressions are often used in her works. Through Huang Ying's dialogues with others, it could be easily interpreted that she holds a passive and an almost doubtful attitude toward reality. Her works clearly express her pursuit of a true "real" world; through glaciers, rivers, and mountains…etc. only symbolic paintings are able to grasp the truth beyond reality, which she believes would allow man to interchange between his consciousness and sub consciousness. In spite the fact that Huang Ying's world seems closed, she focusses on presenting her emotion driven world with sentimental yet poetic expressions. Huang Ying does not create based on objective observations; she composes her pictures through imagination and an intuitive inner power that penetrates the surface.
　　In general, works only represent the conclusion a stage, thinking can be enduring; this is the relationship between parts and the whole.

2011.12.15
Author: Fang Zhenning (curator,critic)

作者：方振宁