Cathy Hillegas----shadows that shape the world
静观一叶，略天地群芳，哪怕是阴影，亦可绚丽浮华。忘却现实所见，平凡，让黑暗也变得赤忱。
—— 影
Hillegas's watercolors always remind me of the world hardly touched by light. It is the world of shadows that comes to be grim and relentless. Therefore, preferred is the flamboyant colors that bring us joy and lightheartedness.
As an art practitioner, I remember, I used to spend a lot of time working on delineating the shapes and colors of objects. As for the shadow part, I preferred, or rather, suggested making as little effort as possible so that objects are outstanding in contrast with the surroundings. I had been taking this axiomatic teaching for granted. For a long time, even many years later, I still held a conviction that the shadow shall not dominate the whole picture until one day I stumbled upon Hillegas's watercolors and was touched deeply by such splendid presentation of shadows.
If we look at those objects, we are enthralled with amazing combinations of various hues in harmony with one another. They are piecing up a world that seems to be impossible in reality. Yet, it evokes a sense of nostalgia, as if reminding us of those many beautiful dreams we used to have and trying so hard to sustain within our memories.
Shall we reconsider those dogmas that we have been keeping so firmly in mind? Perhaps reality can be shaped by other dimensions. The world of shadows presents, sometimes, a better world that escapes from our attention.
