The End of The World Is Forever

2021

Linocut, charcoal, pencil, ink and acrylic on tracing paper, sawdust, and photographs

Installation dimensions variable; scroll dimensions 1' x 42'

This installation draws from the imagery in Xu Dao Ning’s Song dynasty painting, Fisherman's Evening Song, which depicts the barren sides of a mountain range. By using this historical record of deforestation and recreating it as a linocut print, I attempt to change the scale of time in the larger conversation about environmental concerns, from a reactionary search for quick stop-gap solutions, to the need for more long-term paradigm shifts about human-land relations.

At the same time, the stark palette and abstract marks which obscure and degrade the image also speak to an interior existence, and the emotional toll of living in a time of perpetual crisis; it remarks on the damaging capitalistic tempo that is as much a strain on the human psyche as it is on the environment. The continuous handscroll format of the piece acts as a resistance to the speed of modern-day art consumption, in hopes of re-establishing an embodied pace in the viewer’s perception of the work.

I hope this work can communicate some sense of solace as well. The title, and repetition of the central image, are a reminder that humanity has encountered many moments of near apocalypse before – and that perhaps we are only in one stage of the ongoing cycle.

Weihui Lu

Weihui Lu