Read the original New Express article (Chinese)
Editorial Foreword — Connecting Different Eyes to See the Same World
This issue of the BRIDGE art feature takes “Paths” as its theme. All five works were created by young Canadians. By day, these artists attend university, preparatory school or secondary school; in their spare time, they pick up their brushes to paint the many paths they see and feel. There is an ancient path first worn by horses' hooves, where a girl and a white horse share a tender moment among blossoms. There is a new road under construction between mountains, destined to connect with the world beyond. There are also inner journeys: young people growing up across cultures search for meaning, find their footing and turn a compassionate gaze on themselves. And above a starry sky, a “construction site” comes into view: small craftspeople in safety helmets carefully repair our blue and fragile planet — the home shared by all who travel far.
Through their paintings, these young artists trace paths through the countryside and even into memories of home and heritage. Here, paths and bridges become one: one end rests in the land of the maple leaf, the other in ancestral homelands and places far away.
— Organizing Committee of the New Express Young Literary and Artistic Talent Programme
Artwork by an OCLS Student: A Bond Among the Blossoms
Artist: Hailey Xu
School: Merivale High School
Recommending Organization: Ottawa Chinese Language School
About the Artwork
The artist uses softly blended washes to create a gentle, dreamlike texture. The pale grey of the white horse and the girl's pink and purple tones harmonize against the green grass. Layers of lighter and darker greens in the background trees evoke the tranquillity of the countryside. The intimate interaction between the girl and the horse is rendered with sensitivity: the horse's lowered neck and the girl's gentle gestures convey a deeply touching bond.
Viewers may imagine an encounter on a summer afternoon, or a familiar moment in a long companionship. This open-ended storytelling lends the work a poetic quality, inviting a longing for innocence, peace and beauty. By choosing an ordinary moment of tenderness, the artist finds a distinctive simplicity that reveals a keen eye for everyday life and emotion. Where there were no roads, horses' hooves traced humanity's earliest paths. Yet however far a road may lead, perhaps its destination is simply a tender moment like this, among the blossoms.
The BRIDGE Art Feature
Source: Original New Express article (Chinese). English translation of the Chinese feature.