Conversation Piece “50th HS Reunion”

“50th High School Reunion”

“Sui Han San You” is a traditional sumi-e theme that features three plants that thrive in the winter—bamboo, plum, and pine. This trio symbolizes friendship and its strength and vitality in times of adversity and ultimately, in old age and death.  Traditionally, the composition is usually crucial for achieving a balance between the three as they show up close together in the same painting.

This work, as the title indicates, takes a comic turn from the traditional concept displaying a plum tree that has a strong root system but has grown old and rotund. The spindly arms accent the huge trunk that seems to be missing a top that has perhaps been hit by disease or perhaps blasted by lightening. All that said, the blossoms are beautiful, but just in the wrong place. The pine tree enters from the top in a somewhat aggressive and annoying way perhaps suggesting that it is still the “tallest of the three.” The bamboo on the left, known in its youth for strength and flexibility has grown brittle, and the lichen covering the surface is in a way beautiful but indicates its weakened state. The one precious thing they all do still have is the most important thing--their friendship-- which is indicated by the way they lean into one another, as if taking a selfie.