The Beautiful and Regretful World of Flowers   Wu Hong 2005.12.19

There seems to be a natural intelligence between females and flowers. A woman can always find a seasonal flower to associate with, even when she is hurt or unfortunate, she can still relate to the tear like water drops on the petals of a flower. Through my hobby of watching films, I have gained knowledge of the excellent early Chinese film, ‘The Goddess” in which there was a scene that really amazed me. They used a car running over a fallen rose to accentuate the awful life of the protagonist. This sums up the creativity that came from China’s traditional literature.
Traditions in Chinese culture have often been expressed through a montage of poetry and the deep bond between women and flowers. In Li Yun’s works, she never tries to hide her attempt to use flowers to symbolize the experiences in a women’s life. Under her paintbrush, elaborate flowers, female bodies and faces are intertwined. In her works, the subjects all have a clear surrealism about them. Li Yun has changed her style through colours, textures and brush strokes which come from deep insider her. With this she has managed to change her previous style into one which incorporates her emotional beauty.

The knotted brush strokes and texture of her works are as a sensitive woman sighing at the fleeting blossom of a beautiful flower. In Li Yun’s paintings, the expressions of the images are in no way tied into any publicity surrounding popular feminism. Her attitude towards the world is a nervous, happiness towards life, a sigh at past youth, a want for the brilliance of the past to linger and a hesitation towards things unknown.

This is the image of a young lady who lives in a breakable, transparent world. It is due to this that through Li Yun’s paintings we feel a natural desire towards life. Also because of this, Li Yun can transform herself into a world where she loves herself and loves life. This improvement is a feminine and natural thing. This world is a temporary world. We know that life is short. However, life still needs to bloom spectacularly and the brief encounter we have with it emphasizes the meaning of each moment. This is the beautiful and regretful world of flowers.