Shandong Culture

'Life and Nature' under brushes of Chinese and Irish painters

By Li Ping (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2017-04-01

'Life and Nature' under brushes of Chinese and Irish painters

Watercolor flowers by Niamh Cunningham. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In Cunningham's works, the Irish artist applied Chinese watercolor traditions to create vivid artworks on traditional Chinese xuanzhi – otherwise known as rice paper. The bold and warm colors seemingly explode from the paper's surface in every piece, whether it be blooming flowers or natural landscapes.

Cunningham also used her medical background and added a scientific touch to her paintings, by portraying cellular landscapes and cellular divisions – observed via microscopes in laboratories.