Besides a short film, The Nightman Cometh also comprises eight oil paintings. The individuality of each of them is emphasized. Some stories in the whole piece are told through those images. That is also why I call them “sketch films,” because they give a sense of incompletion, and the rest of the “editing” is to be done in the viewer’s consciousness. It is not unusual that film narrative is achieved through editing a series of shots into a sequence. So to some extent, the “montage” going from one painting to another can be more interesting, although they must be produced with the fundamental idea of film in mind, or say, under the direction of the “director.” When I paint, I don't want to make something that is academic or absolutely painterly. What I care about more is to create a particular atmosphere and texture that has a handmade feel, as well as a narrative generated from painting-to-painting montage. The medium of oil on canvas or the quality of painterliness does not interest me much. The connections among those paintings could help render what I call “imagination film.” The images that ended up in the gallery were painted when the short was close to being completed. They make an alternative version of the film part of The Nightman Cometh.
Detail pictures: