Footnotes

Solo Exhibition:
Dongjing·Xijian (Eastern Realm, Western Reflection): Solo Exhibition of Jin Sha, Fortis Arts Centre, Shenzhen, China, 2022
Mastering Illusions: Contemporary Ink Paintings by Jin Sha, Red Line Contemporary Art Centre, Denver, Colorado, USA, 2018
Jinghua·Shiyu (Flowers in the Mirror, Words in the Mind): Solo Exhibition of Jin Sha, Amy Li Gallery, Beijing, China, 2016

Group Exhibition:
Zhiwan·Suyu (Fans in Hand, Words on Silk): Contemporary Gongbi Circular Fan Paintings, Huahui Cultural and Art Centre, Beijing, China, 2020
Art·Garden: Exhibition of Garden Paintings, San Qing Shang Art Centre, Hangzhou, China, 2017

One day, I happened to come across "The Yongzheng Emperor's Screen of Twelve Beauties" and became fascinated by the paintings. The beauties are depicted with alluring features, exquisite makeup, graceful postures, and splendid attire adorned with jewels . One is leaning on the couch, watching birds, one is sipping tea under the shade of the paulownia tree, another is admiring the beauty of stones and butterflies, and yet another is sewing under dim candlelight, all seem delightful and dreamy. However, when observed closely, their eyes are full of sorrow, grievance, blame, and sadness. There comes the idea of creating the series of paintings named Disappeared in the Mirror (Jinghua Shiyu).

I adopted a mirrored composition and invited the twelve beauties into my paintings. I imagined each beauty gazing at their own reflection into the mirror, placed within the same interior, seated on the same bed, leaning on the same couch, holding the same book, and staring into the same mirror, with everything recreated as its original scene. However, who is on the inside and who is on the outside? What is real and what is not? How to distinguish the virtual from the actual? The answers depend on the viewer's judgement.
Mirror is a necessity in daily life used for retouching one's appearance and enabling people to face others with full energy and radiance. However, when one faces the mirror alone in the middle of the night, with the hustle and bustle quieted down and without any adornments, a different reflection is revealed and one's inner world is exposed. Perhaps at this moment, the reflection is more genuine to one's true self.

Therefore, I think that one needs two mirrors in life, one to modify the appearance and cover up the flaws, and the other to reflect the heart and improve oneself. The two mirrors are like two sides of human nature, and both are essential.

I look forward to exploring together with the viewers the flowers in the mirror and the words in their mind.

金沙　鏡花蝕語：深宮圖之十三　設色絹本　成扇　鏡框　二〇一六年作

鈐印：金

畫家自述：
一日，恰逢偶見《雍正十二美人圖》，畫中的美人面容姣好、妝容精緻、衣著華麗、頭配珠釵、身姿婀娜；或倚榻觀雀、或桐蔭品茶、或觀石賞蝶、或燭下縫衣，令人羡慕、為之動容；然細品之時，卻發現每位佳人的眼神之中似充滿哀怨，或是情、或是怨、或是憂、或是愁......於是，便有了創作《鏡花蝕語》的想法。

我採用鏡像的構圖，請十二位美人進入我的畫面，宛若美輪美奐的霓裳軀殼對鏡相視，在同一間內室,坐同一張床榻，倚著同一條案几，拿著同一本書，對著同一面鏡，一切都如原有的景象；只是誰在裏？誰在外？誰是真？誰是假？那個是實景？那個是虛境？都有待觀者自行判別了。
鏡，作為人們日常生活中的必備之品，人們每每用之以自我修飾、觀照面容，以便精神飽滿、光鮮照人的去面對他人。而每當喧囂已去，深夜之時，獨自一人面對孤鏡，凝視自己，無需修飾，直觀內心，確是另外一番鏡像，或許此時的自我才更加的真實......

於是，我覺得人的一生需要兩面鏡子，一面修飾外表、掩蓋缺陷；另一面觀照內心、不斷的修為自我......或正如人性的兩面，缺一不可。

鏡花，鏡中之花；蝕語：心中之語；我期待與觀者共同探討。

個展：
東境·西鑒：金沙個展，富諾德藝術中心，深圳，2022年
掌控幻像：金沙個展，Red Line當代藝術中心，丹佛，科羅拉多州，美國， 2018年
鏡花·蝕語：金沙個展，艾米李畫廊，北京，2016年

群展：
執紈·素語：當代工筆團扇作品邀請展，華匯文化藝術空間，北京，2020
藝·圃：園林主題繪畫作品邀請展，三清上藝術中心，杭州，2017