CRI听力:Czech Artist Melds Chinese Traditional Art

Nothing is probably more remote from the European way of rendering pictures than classic Chinese ink paintings.

But Czech artist Jiri Straka combines these two genres into organic creations. He uses Chinese ink to express some modern substances that are both thought-provoking and provide a fresh perspective. Straka said he has loved China since he was a child.

"I was crazy about Chinese culture and art when I was a kid. Later I found some books about Chinese modern paintings from my father's bookshelf, such as Chinese master painter Qi Baishi and Li Keran's paintings. I was totally absorbed. At that time, my dream was to come to China to learn Chinese ink painting. In 1995, I came to study Chinese ink painting at the China Central Academy of Fine Art. Since then, I kept studying and creating ink painting continuously. It has been around 17 years since then."

When the blue-eyed, long-haired artist grabs a Chinese paint brush, dips it into an inkpot, and works barefoot on a broad sheet of rice paper on the ground, everybody is shocked.

Since 2000, Straka has done such live "performances" of ink painting at a Buddhist temple in Jilin Province, on a sand beach in Guangdong Province, and on the open ground just meters away from the Czech Republic pavilion at the Shanghai Expo.

After years' learning and practice, Jiri has grown into a full-fledged artist - devoting himself to studying Chinese ink painting, but with a European perspective. And his style and painting subject keep evolving as he draws inspiration from his experiences around China.

"I painted traditional Chinese subject for a long time, such as flowers, birds, trees and fishes. My painting style started to change until 2005 or 2006. In the very beginning, I was very attracted to Chinese traditional subjects. But soon, I felt bored by traditional subjects. In addition, I'm still a westerner in my blood. I received western education when I was a child. So later I added many western painting elements in my paintings, such as Baroque painting style and gothic art. I also tried some new painting subjects which were rare in Chinese paintings, such as pain and extreme death."

For CRI, I'm Siqi.