Huang Huanyi, a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi Province, graduated from the Design Department of the Fine Arts Faculty at Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in 1985 with a bachelor's degree. He later obtained his master's degree in ceramics from Wonkwang University in Republic of Korea in 2006. Currently, he serves as a professor and doctoral supervisor in the Ceramics Department of the Fine Arts Faculty and the director of Modern Ceramics Research Institute at Jingdezhen Ceramic University. He is a recipient of the State Council's Special Allowance, a member of the China Artists Association, and a jury member for the Chinese Arts and Crafts Master Selection. He previously held the position of Deputy Director of the Fine Arts Department at Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute.

The Innocent and Natural Charm of Huang Huanyi's Harmony

Exceptional artists are never confined to a single creative form, and ceramic painting is an important direction in Huang Huanyi's exploration of ceramics. It is interconnected with and complementary to modern ceramics and environmental ceramics, together forming Huang Huanyi's ceramic aesthetics and showcasing his understanding and contemplation of the ceramic medium.

Huang Huanyi's ceramic painting is neither the meticulous and detailed pattern–based depiction nor the purely literati–style freehand brushwork. Instead, it is based on a thorough grasp of the fluidity and properties of blue–and–white pigments, combined with modern aesthetic language, to transform traditional techniques of literati–style painting and methods of the use of ink and water. He is accustomed to using layers of diluted pigment to shape images, capturing the overall trend while not losing the details. His free–flowing brushwork is still within the bounds of rules. In the stillness, his brush gives life to flowers, exuding a pure and transcendent charm, brimming with vitality.

Harmony is a brush pot painted by Huang Huanyi in the Changchun International Ceramics Gallery. It depicts the scenery deep in a lotus pond with blue–and–white and red pigments. The blue pigment scatters like flowers without restraint, naturally forming the appearance of lotus leaves rolling and curling, with veins faintly visible. The ink is divided into five shades, with a harmonious balance of light and dark. Red lotuses and buds are dotted among the lotus leaves, while water plants, dragonflies, and swimming fish create a sense of tension.The painting is elegant and unpretentious, fresh and unrestrained, bright and vigorous, yet simple and natural.

Su Shi once said, 'All writings should be grand and colorful in youth. As one grows older and more mature, one reaches a state of simplicity. But this simplicity is not really plain; it is the ultimate brilliance.' In Su Shi's view, this kind of simple beauty represents the ultimate state of literary and painting aesthetics. From the ornate to the simple, the essence of simplicity encompasses the processes of brilliance and refinement, representing an integration and transcendence of grandeur. Simplicity is a state that can only be reached after years of cultivation, and it hides the resilience and wisdom of life. In Huang Huanyi's decorative freehand brushwork on blue and white porcelain, we can experience this simple poetic charm. It is the ultimate purity achieved by discarding worldly distractions and refining the essence, the profound serenity that comes from eliminating noise, and the detachment that transcends appearances and the material world.

The freehand brushwork and decorative approach of Huang Huanyi's ceramic painting endow the traditional theme of "lotus" with a simple and innocent poetic charm, which is also a reflection of the artist's open mind and free–spirited philosophy of life. His ceramic painting is always imbued with a vibrant poetic sentiment and a calm demeanor. This demeanor comes from his profound understanding of the inner life of natural objects, his integration of traditional and modern aesthetics, and more importantly, his deep love for ceramic art. 'Those close to the Dao possess abundant skills. When emotions truly resonate within the heart, external objects seem insignificant.' When the heart perceives the objects, emotions emerge through the brush. In every reed, every flower, every fruit, every leaf, and every insect, one can see vitality, nature, the universe, and poetry. This is the power of Huang Huanyi's ceramic painting.