Midsummer Lotus Pond

The lotus pond is a favored subject in Pan Gongkai’s work, and he depicts it in all seasons of the year. The lotus serves as an allegory for the seasons of change within the life cycle—the lotus blooms in spring, thrives with seed caps during the warmth of summer, starts to wither in fall, and remains dormant during winter. Here, the movement of the ink pour is free-flowing and improvisational, creating a semi-abstract and expressive representation of a lotus pond in the middle summer. Pan usually paints freehand with a spontaneous use of the ink, producing washes in varied saturations and strokes of different thickness. He is known for invigorating the tradition of Chinese ink painting in a contemporary context, integrating Eastern and Western elements as complementary components for coexistence.