Awakening, the title work for the exhibition, presents the stance of a lion awakening in nature, drawing inspiration from the textures of the lion's mane and the undulating lines of its body, tracing back along the traditions of Chinese shanshui landscape painting, capturing the beautiful flowing curve of the lion's body with a calligraphic, abstract brushwork. The mottled marks appear thin and light like smoke, yet transparent and substantial like jade. Up close, all of the brushstrokes appear chaotic and without order, but from a distance, they are firm, tranquil, poetic and jade-like, filled with a cold yet powerful tension, conveying the regal allure of the lion. The reclining lion appears amidst a Chinese shanshui landscape painting, the lion king returning to the land, becoming one with nature. The vocabulary of Eastern art and the techniques of modern Western painting convey spiritual meaning that marks out a great cultural height. Here we see true modern qualities in Chinese painting. Awakening is Liu Guofu's largest, most spectacular painting to date.
