Wordless Mantras: Transcultural Engagements in Pan Jianfeng’s Roses from the Dark¹

The paper discusses artist Pan Jianfeng’s transcultural series Roses from the Dark as a reconsideration of hierarchical binaries associated with language, culture, and artistic value. By relinquishing a focus on any “meaning” or “outcome” of Roses, the paper instead considers the communication between Pan’s influences, geography, and artistic process in creating such multilayered works of art. Using interviews with Pan himself, as well as sources across time and space, the paper draws various connections to emphasize the lack of validity in perceived cultural boundaries. Finally, a look at language – and specifically the imagery of Chinese script – considers the ways in which traditional models of reading or understanding must be suspended in order to accept the beauty of Pan’s Roses.