Master of the big picture

'Art makes our lives interesting'

What is the role of ink painting in your daily life?

Ink painting plays a small part in my life. It was never my whole life. I have had lots of interests since childhood. Although my father was a master ink painter, he never taught me how to do ink paintings. But he did push me to learn about Chinese culture and literature. Painting is not only about skills. Whether a person can be a great artist depends on his knowledge, his understanding of life and his view of the relationship between humans and nature.

What do you think of creativity in art?

If we don't inherit what we have in our culture there's no room for creativity and innovation. As for art, innovation is not the top priority. Art is to enhance people's eye for beauty and improve their ability to enjoy life. As for pieces created by old masters, people still like them. This is because while technology must be innovative and useful for people's lives, art is useless in terms of function. But it makes our lives interesting.

How did your father influence your childhood and teenage years?

In fact, my father knew little about my studies at school. I really appreciated my father's little intervention in my interests and study. A child should try a lot of things before focusing on particular interests. I recommend parents not to limit your children's possibilities when they are 7 or 8 years old. For those who want to learn art, do not start learning sketching in childhood. But children's painting is good for the imagination.

You write books, design buildings and paint in ink. How do you see the trend of people doing crossover works?

I spend lots of time on ink painting and architecture. But finally I find that both these fields have something similar. The internet makes knowledge easy for us to access, but I suggest that young people don't start crossovers unless they have become experts in one field. Or else, their work will be very superficial and shallow.