For Supreme Master Ching Hai, the art of painting is a way to candidly express sensations and perceptions without intentional polishing with elaborate brush strokes. Her technique thus reveals a flow of innate purity that transcends the customary quest among artists for superficial aesthetic sophistication. If Master Ching Hai harbored any doubts about Herself, it would be impossible for Her to paint in such a pure, innocent style.
~David Wu
The Supreme Master displays a special aptitude for depicting the spiritual realms, as Her paintings often inspire and awaken humankind by transmitting messages that touch the heart. This is especially noteworthy for Her unique form of expression distinguishes Her work from the more rational style of illustration seen in most pictures. Her great candor and fidelity to Her own feelings give Her paintings a pure, romantic style, yet the message they convey never fails to stir heartfelt sentiments among art lovers.
In Her still lifes and depictions of nature, the Supreme Master goes far beyond photographic reproduction, and instead infuses Her works with an innovative quality that transforms Her subjects and allows Her to revel in the process of creation. But nothing comes to Her as easily as representing the spiritual realms. Thus, the Supreme Master’s paintings may be visual delights, but they are better appreciated with the heart.
Impressionistic in style, Her art places little emphasis on refined variations of light and shade. The Supreme Master did not receive formal academic training in the arts. So when She paints, She skips preliminary sketching and instead directly applies expressive patches of color to the canvas, creating gradations of tone through three-dimensional perspective. Her paintings are best appreciated from the standpoint of their overall structure and composition; close-up inspection is unnecessary. Take a few steps back and one can better feel the tension in the pictures, as well as their harmony and color coordination.
The Supreme Master’s works often emanate intense energy. For instance, the painting Stone Cave presents a dynamic image marked by what appears to be an incessant undulation of photons. Through its rich colors, the picture reflects the various gradations of light experienced in a particular spiritual dimension. In another painting entitled Filled with Grace, the energy becomes a fluid force, changing constantly like a magic show. The work’s flowers sparkle joyously, reminiscent of brilliant stars in the night sky and colorfully coordinated like Christmas lights.
By contrast, the work Longing brings the viewer a moment of respite and relief from the pressures of the physical world. Its composition and tones of color reflect stress and discord, but this impression is ingeniously modulated by the lively, vibrant image of a river. Such paintings that are strong in contrast and conflict often give one a sense of relief or lead to introspection.
This category of the Supreme Master’s paintings usually features a dissecting line drawn at an angle. Examples also include The Stone Convention, which is marked by a sharp color contrast, Discussion, which conveys an intense message of caution, and Fear, in which flowers from a toppled vase struggle to save themselves, all providing a sense of relief from stress. In paintings such as Heavenly Flowers, horizontal lines are used to represent a balanced state. Also, the work’s vibrant combination of cold and warm hues depicts a highly harmonized realm. The Supreme Master’s pastel color paintings are equally unique, being pure, elegant and gentle in style, with deep feelings expressed through their colors.
Most people develop a command of the art of painting only after long, intensive training, but Supreme Master Ching Hai relies mainly on Her wisdom and spiritual experiences to paint. This explains why She has been able to achieve such great success in a short span of time. Ultimately, however, perhaps all the techniques in the field of fine art are not adequate for the Supreme Master to express Her rich inner world!
