Darius (b.1960) graduated at the Hong Kong First Institute of Art and Design in 1979. With his passion in art, he pursues his career as a graphic designer, and has always got involved and collaborates in painting/creating with Hong Kong and China artists, such as Fish King(魚王) and Yu Kewei (余克危) ever since his graduation.
From ancient times to present, there is a strong relationship between calligraphy and Chinese painting. The study of calligraphy has always been adhering to master’s training, based on the pursuit of harmony and reconciliation, the training focuses on imitating master artists’ writing, while creativity is not much encouraged. Whereas Japanese calligraphy is complemented by a lot of contemporary design elements and bold new ideas. In recent years, there have also been a rising number of contemporary calligraphy creations in China and Taiwan.
I have been learning and practicing Chinese calligraphy throughout my creative years, it is a basic element for the foundation of Chinese ink paintings. As a graphic designer, I coupled with the techniques of contemporary calligraphy, and create as per Buddhist theory of “to create as per one’s emotion & passion… together with aptitude”.
The inspiration of this series is from the word “horse”… which quickly come to mind was the Confucian saying "white horse is not a horse", and advanced to more Chinese words that were used to describe horses such as spirited horse, colt, black horse… and branched out to some other all in cursive writing, and I strive to trace the coordination between lines, curves, color, space and all… In addition to the basic skills of calligraphy, the creative elements also use the overall space composition, shade gradation and Chinese ink painting techniques, where I blend in the western color pigments with a final touch as highlight.
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In his series Wu Wei 無為 , the artist combines the use of Chinese ink and acrylic on rice paper. Through his use of wild brushstrokes, the artist explores the interaction between the two medium – ink and acrylic and their effect on rice paper; the blended and unblended synthesis of ink and acrylic creates exaggerated and indefinite shapes. The artist emphasizes on the notion of time and space, resulting in strong visual tension in the compositions of the paintings.
Wu Wei無為 stemmed from Lao Zi’s concept of無為而無不為 – Let it be, yet everything is accomplished. The artist’s concept for the series focuses on effortlessness. The materials engage and interact with each other without any sort of control or force through fluid and gestural brushstrokes.
馬志恆生於1960年，於1979年畢業於香港大 一藝術設計學院。憑藉對藝術的熱愛，他以平面設計師的身份開展其職業生涯，並一直參與並與本地及中國藝術家合作進行繪畫和創作，如魚王和余克威等。
自古到今，書法與字畫間的關係似漆如膠； 學習書法一貫都是秉承師訓，以追求恭整與調和為基礎，首臨募為主，創新則略保守。日本之書道加上很多現代設計元素和大膽新穎的嘗試而後勁凌勵，近年國內與台灣也有一批現代書法的創作。
這系列談不上是書法，更不能攀附書道，幸是設計師出身，加上當代書法家之手法，再借用佛家之「唯心所造，唯識所現」 之理念創作。首「概念」是馬為主幹，即想到儒家之「白馬非馬」和形容馬的名詞如駿、駒、驪等字以排筆寫草書，力求追尋線條與空間之協調， 再返回基本理念，用行楷，草書等構成空間、正反之畫面。創作元素除書法基本功外，亦利用整體之空間、構圖、水墨技巧，最後揉合西方之色彩作連貫。
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「實驗水墨」自傳統國畫脫胎而出，溶合西方的概念，使能帶出個別畫家的獨特構思。水墨是中國文化的承傳，崇尚自在、自為、自律，墨分五色，計白當黑，皴擦點染。水墨以薄、輕、通透、空靈、朦朧、飄忽取勝；而丙烯是水溶性，可透明與不透明又可反復堆砌，畫出厚重的感覺。
畫家馬志恆隨大師林風眠「中西調合」、「畫無所謂中西」的觀念，大膽創作/實驗自己的「無為」系列。 他以強烈的黑白對比為主軸，輔以淡彩再添上金箔銀箔點輟來表達其意念。「無為」系列利用兩者之密度不同，大面積水墨暈染配上較濃厚之丙烯。採用狂放的筆觸再借用拓印之法，在壓力下互相交融，互相排斥，放發出激情、力量、速度等關係，造成強烈的視覺景像。
「無為」是借用 _道家「無為而無不為」的理念，究其實，其中心理念是「自由無為」，包含著「自然」與「無為」兩層意義。「自然」是一種觀念、態度和價值，也是一種狀態和效果；「無為」則是一種行為，是實現「自然」的手段和方法。兩者密不可分、互相關連。重點是忠於自我，用心靈感受為意境， 做應該做的事， 隨心而發，隨意而行 ……
Award:
Bronze prize winner of Genesis Building Rolls Royce Car Artistic Reinterpretation Competition
Project:
The Peninsula, Shanghai, China
New World Millennium HK Hotel
Ritz Carlton, Macau
獎項:
參加香港-義大利Genesis 勞斯萊斯車身設計比賽獲得第三名
合作項目:
中國上海半島酒店
千禧新世界香港酒店
澳門麗思卡爾頓酒店