“Rediscovering the true emotions in simplicity,” as Chung Chen Sun inscribed himself, captures the essence of his work—a fleeting, heart-stirring glimpse, etched forever in the viewer’s mind. Art draws from life, and it is often in life’s unassuming moments that we find profound beauty. Even the most ordinary, overlooked gesture can leave an indelible impression.

Chung Chen Sun found inspiration in the everyday—a villager bathing, a woman pouring water over her head. From this, he captured the moment when the female figure raises her arm, the body fully extended, preserving this instant in his painting. True to the theme, he depicts the humid atmosphere of bathing with ink techniques that rely on water-rich strokes. His brushwork is decisive and fluid, as though the composition came together in a single motion. Boldly, Chung abstracts the figure into a series of color blocks, where the ink flows seamlessly, creating a unity between the delicate softness of the woman’s form and the translucent, subtle hues of the paper.

The water, cascading from her raised arms, appears inherently fluid and abundant. Yet Chung chose to represent it with dry, pale brushstrokes, incorporating feibai (flying white) techniques. The droplets connect through a masterful interplay of wet and dry, creating a visual dialogue within the ink. The blurred yet dynamic texture conveys the streams of water trickling along strands of hair, tangling and separating in the falling cascade, with remarkable precision. The figure’s form remains recognizable while simultaneously serving as a vessel for the visual beauty of brush and ink—a harmonious balance of reduction and expressiveness.

Through artistic transformation, the tranquility of the mundane is stripped of worldly distractions, revealing its purest beauty. In Chung Chen Sun’s Bathing, the chaos and glitz of modern life are washed away, leaving only serene simplicity. Beauty is never confined to one definition; the dazzling lights of the city may captivate, but the true warmth of life lies in the quiet sincerity of simplicity.