Growth by Karma Dorje Tsering Photo: Xu Ming/GT

Dazzling colors, random but delicate lines, mystical images and a heavy touch of Tibetan culture; walking around the exhibition of Tibetan artist Karma Dorje Tsering's works is like traveling in a fantastic world of unrestrained imagination. 

Kicked off on Sunday, Elements - The Visible and Invisible, an exhibition of Karma's works on display at the Baimamedo Art Center in Beijing, provides a great opportunity for people get to know more about this artist and his works and how traditional Tibetan culture is finding new life in modern paintings.

Universal concern

Boasting over 60 of Karma's paintings that he created between 2006 and 2014, the exhibition acts as a summary of his creative style during this eight year period.

It's extremely difficult to define these paintings. Splicing big patches of colors makes these acrylic works appear like oil paintings, while fine delicate linework make them also seem like etchings. Add in the mystical imagery and they also resemble traditional Tibetan murals.

In the end, his works are a combination of several kinds of painting styles that blend with each other harmoniously, a perfect mixture of tradition and modernity, worldliness and spirituality.

Within the artwork on display at the exhibition, Karma has generalized elements of Tibetan culture and religion representing them on a philosophical level that shows his compassion and concern for all forms of life and the space they live in.

For example, in the series of five paintings titled Growth, he uses symbols to represent the yin and yang of Chinese philosophy, the interactions of which gives birth to everything. Additionally, each painting is painted with a different color representing one of the wu xing, or Five Agents - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water - that represent the cycle of change that all things on earth undergo.

Meanwhile over in another series of paintings titled Himalayas, the mountains are depicted in a way that they also resemble the shape of human beings, a deliberate choice the artist made to explore the interdependent relationship between humanity and nature.

"I am attempting to reflect on how human beings' demands on nature have caused damage to the environment and the pressure of maintaining sustainable development," he explained.

Another painting, Deep Sea, features a large blue space circled by living organisms. "Billions of years ago, the Tibetan Plateau was deep below the sea. I want to show the circle of life and the power of The Mother through this painting."

"Karma's works point to the essence of philosophy and the universe. They are able to provide enlightenment to viewers," commented artist and writer Cai Jinsong during the exhibition's opening ceremony.

A return to the beginning

It may not be easy to understand Karma's works, but once you see them, they are hard to forget. Through the years, this artist has accumulated and developed his own language and symbols that have distinguished him from other artists.

Born in 1963 in Yushu, Qinghai Province, Karma didn't start learning how to paint until he was 19 years old and was studying at the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Like other artists, he first learned Western painting techniques, but later realized that he needed develop his own language and form to express his feelings and thoughts about the world.

"It was a hard process and required determination. For a time, I almost forgot how to paint," Karma said. While studying at the Minzu University of China around 1987, he gradually developed the style that he continues to use today.

Buddhist images such as "picking flowers and smiling" and the head of the Buddha, appear repeatedly within Karma's works. As such many people immediately assume that Karma's creations have their origin in the religious culture he grew up in.

However, Karma told the Global Times that these motifs are "the result of my conscious effort to retrace my roots" rather than any influence from his youth.

"I grew up during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and there were only broken walls and ruins left after the fatal destruction of temples and statues of gods," he explained.

However, this doesn't mean his childhood had no affect on his art, "I inherited my concern for nature from Tibetan culture. And I lived in an environment where old people liked to tell fairy tales to the next generation. These stories with their jumping plots and rich imagination inspired me very much."

While learning painting, Karma came to appreciate the works of Mattis, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso, which can be seen from the trails of Impressionism, Cubism and Constructivism seen in his works, influences that he perfectly combines with tradition.

Extended art

Karma's artistic talents include many different forms of art, including oil painting, line drawing, etchings, bookplates, book design and so on. Over the past few years, he has held many exhibitions in these different fields.

One area where he has excelled is in the art of creating bookplates - small labels pasted into books to represent ownership. An expert in this field, he won fourth prize in the 34th International Ex Libris Competition in Finland in 2012, and is currently standing director of the Chinese Ex Libris Association.

He first came into contact with this unique art in 2010 while working for the Ethnic Publishing House, where he has worked for 20 years. At the time a friend mentioned that his paintings were the perfect fit for being adapted into bookplates and encouraged him to focus his creative energies in this direction.

"I knew little about it at first and they were too small, so I wasn't really interested," he said.

However, with encouragement from his friend, he designed several bookplates that took part in national competitions in 2010 and received several nominations. As he learned more about the art, he began to develop an interest in it.

As an art editor, Karma also likes to design books and has won many awards in this field. "I like book design because it is very similar to etchings, something I'm very familiar with," he said.

"With the spread of e-books, book design has taken on new meaning and demands more from book designers. In the future, books with beautiful content and fine designs might even become a piece of art or even a luxury item."