Homeland is a drawing by contemporary Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. The September 2013 drawing is a gunpowder drawing, the creation of which depicts a bold embrace of non-conventional drawing techniques (Flora, 2013). Cai ignites gun-powder directly on specially made paper, resulting in a textured surface charred and blackened, with the look and feel of an explosion. It is through the gun-powder blasting technique utilized by Cai in the creation of this drawing that it acquires its rarity. In this drawing, Cai maintains a certain distance to reality, instead of explicitly mirroring it.
The drawing is a depiction of the ancient Chinese city of Quanzhou, Cai Guo's hometown and birthplace. The drawing depicts temples and two pagodas in the middle, distant mountains and banyan trees and a ghostly juxtaposition of Frank Gehry's museum. Captured in the drawing is a memory of different religions including Confucianism and Buddhism. The drawing uses dull colors and charred markings. The dark brown against a pale backdrop of depicts Quanzhou's timelessness and evoke a calm and reflective feel. It also evokes nostalgia to me having visited the ancient city of Quanzhou before.
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Homeland , through the charred remains that evidence of an explosion, resonates with me as a release of emotions and struggling and resistance to stressful situations that I have encountered in life. The duality of gunpowder, being destructive yet fulfilling its creative potential in this drawing encourages me to strike a balance between progressive and potentially regressive habits and harness both of them to attain excellence.
Homeland was created with the aim of promoting art in China. In creating Homeland , Cai intended to auctioning it in a celebration of Christie's maiden auction in mainland China. The money raised from its sale would be channeled towards the establishment of the Quanzhou Museum of Contemporary Art in Quanzhou. Its creation was also a deliberate attempt by Cai to encourage more collectors in China to donate work of art to society in a bid to promote the development of Chinese contemporary art (Flora, 2013).
In future, Cai’s Homeland painting might be considered as a masterpiece, and Cai Gao himself acknowledged as a giant of the arts. The drawing is profoundly captivating and engrossing, capturing the viewer's attention and directing it to the work itself rather than its creator. The drawing is awe-striking, leaving the viewer transposed and with an expanded consciousness. The gunpowder blasting technique also makes it a rare work of art that is befitting of a masterpiece and whose creator deserves to be considered a giant of the arts for his unique skills and technique.
Homeland , gunpowder on paper, mounted on wood as 8-panel screen, 2013
References
Flora, L. (2013, September 25). Cai Guo-Qiang Kicks Off Christie’s Shanghai With A Bang (Literally) . Retrieved from Jing Daily: https://jingdaily.com/cai-guo-qiang-kicks-off-christies-shanghai-with-a-bang-literally/
