Deaf Mute

Abstract

DEAF MUTE / Nelson I. Wu Engüsh version in coUaboration with Jan Garden Castro —Later, he stopped painting. His health improved. HE FELT AS IF he had cleaned his eyeglasses after working behind a dirtied pair aU his Ufe. Now everything looked sharper. He was about to finish copying Fan Kuan's painting "Travelers Among Mountains and Streams." He had lost count of the number of times he had copied this, the greatest painting of the Northern Sung Dynasty. As a humble student, aU he had as a model was a caUotype glass plate reproduction. After he had mastered the meaning and spirit of the composition and its elements, someone made him a gift of a set of photographic enlargements of the detaUs. Confronting the photographs, not only did the details of his own painting look sharper to him, but the components were also more cohesive and majestic than ever. At sixty years of age, he first viewed the original painting "Travelers Among Mountains and Streams" at the Palace Museum in Taiwan. By this time, he was known as a painter not only of landscapes but also of flowers, birds, animals, and figures. He painted everything in a traditional way, including Yen WenKuei 's hanging scroUs Buildings and Temples by the River. However, he rarely copied the scroU by Wang Chen-Peng, The Dragon Boat Race at Pao-Ching, for its encyclopedic, mechanical details did not sustain his interest. During his study of other works, he found his observation skiUs sharpened further due to his study of the great one. In return, these varied studies enriched his understanding of the temple architecture and other detaUs in "Travelers Among Mountains and Streams." Now, standing in front of Fan Kuan's famous painting, his eyes touched every detaU from corner to corner as if caressing it. At the same time, his painting hand moved incessantly in front of his chest, applying gentle or heavier strokes with an imaginary brush. AU of the organs in his body moved in harmony with his hand. He often stood at the Museum painting in the air. He had completely absorbed the scroU as an entity, starting with the colophon above the painting by Tun Ch'i'ch'ang. The Missouri Review · 45 People gave his copies the highest traditional compliment: they were so good they could have been from the hands of ancient masters. He reaUzed, however, that his work lacked his own individuaUty. So he experimented with different brushwork and different interpretations to test his understanding of the masterpiece —as though discussing an idea with an invisible visitor. None of his friends could talk with him on this level. To finish an interpretation in an hour, he used only a watery brush and fast movements. Switching to another approach, he could spend two to three months completing a study of the same painting. His friends always praised each study. Yet in his heart, instead of satisfaction, he sensed a great distress bordering on fear. His goal was no longer so attractive to him, and he began to suspect that his real goal was still hidden inside him. During this period, he lost so much weight that his bones began to show. These days, he painted from memory. His new compositions unified his concepts beyond their details. He would work with his eyes closed. This time, he began a perfectly detailed copy with the exact measurements of the original. (To avoid confusion with the original, he had taken the precaution of varying the dimensions of all other copies.) Now the only precaution he took was using paper instead of the silk on which the original masterpiece was painted. This would be his consummate achievement. Yet he also knew that he could never claim it as his own creation. Dusk feU as he was having these thoughts. He put the justdeUvered evening paper on the table. The poor quaUty newsprint was nearly impossible to read but was absorbent and good for drying his brushes. As he often did, he tore it automaticaUy into square pieces for that purpose. Caring Uttle about his finished work, he reached for a huge brush, loaded it with light brown, and proceeded...