Installation View, Artwork ©马若骢
" 我相信生命力是可观测可客观化的，情感激荡的峰顶是生命力凝结的‘Eternal’的瞬间。"
与之前创作的女性身体不同，马若骢回国后一直在找寻自己的创作语言，将不可见之物安放在一层皮肤之下，通过描绘人体、兽体等体的内部，使圣洁的生命起点、动物的本性、暴烈的终点，可被观测。
Unlike the female bodies he created before, Ruocong Ma has been searching for his own creative language since his return to China, placing the invisible under a layer of skin, and by depicting the interior of bodies such as the human body and the animal body, she has made the starting point of the holy life, the nature of the animal, and the tyranny point of the end, observable.
Installation View, Artwork ©马若骢
从伦敦回国后马若骢先前往上海驻地，后回到北京选定工作室，半年内又遭遇拆迁，这种辗转迫使她在不同环境中寻找合适的表达形式。她也坦言，在创作上她还处于探索的阶段。这是指绘画风格（画法和媒介）的迭代，她的创作核心始终没有变，描绘“生命在荒野上每天都在发生的事情，那些永恒一瞬的切片”。不断的变换形式是为了“更尖锐的到达核心”。
After returning to China from London, Ruocong Ma went to Shanghai for a residency, set up her studio in Beijing, and then suffered a demolition within six months, a bouncing around that forced her to find the right form of expression in different environments. She also admits that creatively she is still in the exploratory stage of her artistic journey. This refers to the iteration of painting styles (methods and mediums), but the core of her work has remained the same, depicting "the daily happenings of life in the wilderness, those slices of eternal moments". The constant change of form is to "get to the heart of the matter more sharply."
Installation View, Artwork ©马若骢&余曾巧
从她的工作室很容易感受到她这两年创作上的变化。那些稍有变形的兽和人，大部分被放在仓库和休息区的架子上。
但在新的作品里，很容易看到她通过描绘皮肤内部、器官、筋膜等形象，来表达爱欲、野蛮和思绪以及她所说的"动物的真心"。
It's easy to feel the change in her creativity over the past two years from her studio. Those beasts and men with slight transformations are mostly placed in the storage and the shelves in rest areas.
But in her new works, it is easy to see that she expresses love, savagery and thoughts, as well as what she calls "the animal's heart" by depicting the inner skin, organs, fascia.
多得是……今晚的月亮……like this moonlight, and millions yet to come, 160×100cm
布面丙烯、油画 Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 2023
作品"大头"是马若骢在ACENTRICSPACE驻地期间完成的最后一个作品，是在一个非常高压的状态下创作的。凶猛的生命力和虚弱的躯体共存于色彩对比极强的画面中，让人看到新生和结束瞬间的交织。在高压和负面情绪很激动的情况下，她反而能创作出惊喜。
The work "Bighead" was the last work completed by Ruocong Ma during residency at ACENTRICSPACE, and was created under a very high-pressure situation. The coexistence of the fierce life and the weak body in the highly contrasting colours shows the intertwining of the moment of birth and the moment of the end. In a situation of high pressure and negative emotions, she is able to create surprises.
大头 Bighead, 155×180cm
布面丙烯、油画 Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 2023
马若骢最近的新作在形式上和之前相比很不一样。她对主题的表现更加朦胧，也更游刃有余。这次展览之前她前往希腊旅行，作品“大象在看着呢”有一点半人半神的朦胧感就是来自古希腊雕塑和柱式。“把收不住的，倾泻而出的爱欲，野蛮性，思绪和记忆以一个动物的皮肉包裹着放在了画布上。”
Ruocong Ma recent works are very different from her previous works in terms of form. Her expression of the subject matter is more ambiguous and fluid. She travelled to Greece before this exhibition, and the work "The Elephant is Watching" has a slight sense of ambiguity of being half man, half god, which comes from the Ancient Greek sculpture and Order. "The uncontrollable, pouring out love, savagery, thoughts and memories are put on the canvas wrapped in the skin and flesh of an animal."
大象在看着呢 The elephants are watching, 210×140cm
布面丙烯、油画 Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 2023
Reo, 70×100cm, 布面丙烯、油画 Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 2023 (R)
象婴 The baby elephant, 120×100cm, 布面丙烯、油画 Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 2022 (L)
Q：你的作品风格有明显的变化，是受外在环境影响还是心态上有所变化呢？
A：都有。创作方向我有确定的核心，去描绘“生命在荒野上每天都在发生的事情，那些永恒一瞬的切片”。风格（画法和媒介）迭代是为了更快更好更尖锐地达到核心，环境是催化剂。
Q: Your artistic style has undergone noticeable transformations. Is this a result of external environmental influences or changes in your personal mindset?
A: Both. I have a definite core for my creative direction, I've maintained a clear focus in my creative direction: to depict "the events that occur every day in the wilderness of life, those eternal and transient moments." The iterations in style (techniques and mediums) is designed to more effectively and sharply convey this core idea, with the environment acting as a catalyst.
Installation View, Artwork ©马若骢&余曾巧
Q：是什么契机使你产生对“生命永恒一瞬”的兴趣的，为什么沉醉于此？
A：在回溯生命初期时，我的记忆里留下痕迹的不是一个故事的开始、经过和结束，而是无数个情感浓烈的瞬间。我相信生命力是可观测可客观化的，情感激荡的峰顶是生命力凝结的“Eternal”的瞬间。
Q: What sparked your interest in the concept of "eternal and transient moments of life," and why does it captivate you?
A: When tracing the early stages of life, my memories aren't composed of typical story arcs; instead, they consist of countless intensely emotional moments. I believe that the essence of can be observed and objectively manifested, and the pinnacle of emotional intensity represents the "eternal" moments of life.
象婴 The baby elephant, 120×100cm
布面丙烯、油画 Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 2022
Q：你自己经常戴着头套出现在社交媒体上，你会把这种佩戴头套的行为称作主动隐藏还是被动逃避呢？
A：主动和被动都有。根源是我处于青春期至成年人的阶段，作为无力的个体，对文明性，公共隐私关系所怀有的强烈不安和否定。以及试图搅乱（或迷惑）外界反馈的一种障眼法。
Q: You often appear on social media wearing a mask. Would you call this behavior active disguise or passive avoidance?
A: It's a combination of both. The root cause is the profound unease and denial I experienced towards societal norms and public privacy relationships during my adolescence to adulthood, as a powerless individual. It's also an attempt to disorient or obscure the external feedback.
Installation View, ©马若骢
Q：作为无力个体对关系的不安和否定是对外界塑造的规范的反对吗？你的创作一直探寻生命原始性也是以另一种形式审视已有的规范吗？
A：比起反对更多是不合作。无法站起来反抗，也无法心甘情愿的顺从。是一种非常浑浊的状态。我的作品是有这一层暗示的。文明性让物种高效扩张，外化的暴力（狩猎，酷刑等）变成现代社会个体内化的暴力（自我审查等）。对于“荒野”这个舞台而言，无论是大草原还是现代都市，没太大差别。
Q: As a powerless individual, is your resistance to relationships and rejection of societal norms a subtle form of opposition to the norms imposed by the external world? Does your creative work continuously explore the primordial nature of life as a way to examine existing norms in a different form?
A: It is more of a non-cooperation than direct opposition. Unable to stand up against it, yet unwilling to fully comply, it is a rather ambiguous state. There is an implicit aspect to it in my works. Civilization allows for efficient species expansion, transforming external violence (hunting, torture, etc.) into internalized violence within modern society (self-censorship, etc.). In the context of the "wilderness" as a stage, whether it is a vast grassland or a modern city, there is not much difference.
红睫毛 Red eyelashes, 90×60cm
布面丙烯、油画 Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 2023
Q：隐匿在另一层“皮肤”之下会给你安全感吗？对你的创作有什么影响呢？
A：与其说是安全感，不如说是去人格化了。“皮肤”的覆盖和包裹，让我转换成了一种可观测的景观。这个景观因我诞生，却与我无关，我的不负责可以让她更自由。
她在社交媒体上的呈现和创作无关，更接近我创作过程的坐标。我经常让她扮演某种和我作品呼应的角色，再与我的画合影。她的出现往往象征着该创作结束了，她来了，她看了，她成为其中之一。
Q: Does hiding under another layer of skin give you a sense of security? How does it impact your creative work?
A: Instead of feeling safe, it's depersonalized. The envelopment of the layer of skin allows me to metamorphose into a spectacle that can be observed. This spectacle, although born out of me, is disconnected from me; my absence of accountability allows it to exist more freely.
This figure's presence is unrelated to my creation but mirrors the coordinates of my creative journey. I often have her play some sort of role that echoes my work and then take a picture with my painting. Her emergence often symbolizes the completion of a creation – she arrives, she observes, she integrates into it.
艺术家于北京工作室, ©马若骢
Q：这种借由他者颜貌以实现更自由的表达的行为模式，与你的创作逻辑之间的关系是什么？
A：都包含一种自恋的移情。我描绘的无论是动物的整体还是局部，追根溯源其实都是在画女人的身体和心。我把收不住的，倾泻而出的爱欲，野蛮性，思绪和记忆以一个动物的皮肉包裹着放在了画布上。
Q: What is the relationship between this behavior of using others' appearances to achieve a freer expression and your creative logic?
A: Both involve a form of narcissistic projection. Whether I depict an entire animal or its parts, it ultimately traces back to portraying the body and soul of a woman. I encapsulate my uncontainable love, desire, savagery, thoughts, and memories within the skin of an animal and lay it out on the canvas.
Installation View, Artwork ©马若骢
Q：你认为表皮之下的才是本质吗？
A：血肉和表皮都是本质。个体在社会环境里为了私欲或自保真诚地拟态，这全部都是动物的真心。
Q: Do you think what lies beneath the surface is the essence?
A: Flesh and blood and epidermis are the essence. Individuals genuinely mimic the social environment for self-interest or self-preservation, and all of these actions reflect the authentic nature of animals.
Q：“动物的真心”具体来说指代的是什么，你是如何在作品里使这种抽象概念可视化？
A：动物的真心就是诞生，捕猎，进食，交配，繁衍，死亡还有爱。我用“光的情感”来表达，光作为贯穿人类史，艺术史的母题，足以承载所有我想说的。光打在贝壳里，就有孵化的温柔。光打在红色的腔体内，就有剥开血肉的强硬。
Q: What does the "authentic nature of animals" specifically refer to, and how do you visualize this abstract concept in your artwork?
A: "Authentic nature of animals" encompasses birth, hunting, feeding, mating, reproduction, death, and love. I express it through the "emotions of light," as light, being the overarching theme throughout human history and art history, is potent enough to convey all that I want to express. Light shining on a shell portrays the gentleness of hatching, while light within a red cavity reveals the forceful tearing of flesh.
Installation View, Artwork ©马若骢
Q：你的作品可以通向很纯洁圣灵，生命原初的起点，也可以通向非常暴烈的一端，创作的时候你是有意识转向一方的吗？
A：起点和终点，生与死是二元一体的。我没有干预这种转向，是自然发生的。
Q: Your artwork can lead to a very pure, spiritual, and primal starting point of life, as well as to a highly intense and violent end. Do you consciously choose to shift towards one end during the creative process?
A: The starting point and the end, life, and death, are inseparable dualities. I don't plan these shifts; they occur naturally.
余曾巧（L）马若骢（R）, Installation View
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