ABOUT THE WORK

I nexplicably, Lao Lianben’s works are deeply inspired by Zen Buddhism. “Zen Buddhism principles, practices, and mysticism have always fascinated me,” Lao said in a 2023 interview with Lifestyle Inquirer. “I do not practice Buddhism, but I am intrigued by it.” he enigmatic and impregnable Buddha looms large in Lao's oeuvre, whether he is depicted figuratively or not. It was his teaching that permeated Lao's canvas – from the mindfulness of his minimalist works to the meditation that his works espouse, it is clear where Lao derives his inspiration from. For his 2020 Balance, Lao took inspiration from the zen symbol of ens?. A hand-drawn circle, the ens? symbolizes absolute enlightenment, freedom, and emptiness. With Balance, Lao forgoes his usual minimalist style to experiment with textures. As he splits the canvas into quadrants, Lao assigns each area a different texture and colors, creating a more experiential canvas than his usual. At the center, drawn in a perfect unbroken sweep, is the ens?. The drawing of the ens? is as spiritual as it is physical. When one draws the symbol, one does not change it, regardless of the end result. It is evident of the artist’s character and the context of the ens?’s creation, so it is pertinent for the artist to practice the values of the Japanese wabi-sabi, or the acceptance of transience and imperfection. To appreciate a Lao piece is to appreciate the silence and meditation it is imbued in. The austerity of Zen is exalted in his oeuvre and Balance, as its name suggests, aims to strike the balance between mindfulness and enlightenment – letting the mind be free to produce a body of work that is at once simple and fundamentally complex. (Hannah Valiente)