ABOUT THE WORK

There is actually so much more to Lao’s artwork than meets the eye, that a complete understanding of the painting’s concept almost necessitates a knowledge of the title. An esoteric term has always been associated with the experience of viewing the works of Lao Lianben: Zen. One way to think of zen is this: a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind. Zen is a way of being. It also is a state of mind. Zen involves dropping illusion and seeing things without distortion created by your own thoughts. Lao Lianben was quoted way back in 1992: “When they tagged me as a Zen painter, I liked the idea and told myself, maybe I should put the word Zen in my titles to see what would happen. It would have been a way of telling them this is not Zen! Such concepts are not important. Sometimes they just become an excuse. What is important for me is, I am a painter, I have the materials I need, and I have the time to paint. It is my choice, it is my reason for living.” “I don’t start out by saying, ’I won’t do a Zen painting.’ I just paint. Painting is my Zen.” In his white works such as “Thinking of Basho” Lao used techniques such as scratching, incising, in order to convey meaning.