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Yefu Bai

Illumination 1

Illumination 2

Illumination 3

Ink and acrylic on paper
2018
78 x 48 cm each

The soul of man is the essence of life.
Each person living in reality is an independent individual,
Having a unique appearance,
Being the one and only,
Created by God,
Full of beans;
’Cause of God's redemption,
His spirit renewed;
The Light of Truth,
Drives away Darkness;
The portrait of the soul,
Awakened to life.

Water and ink blending,
Spirit and breath ascending,
In the tunnel of time,
’Cause of the blood of the Son,
Freedom,
Release,
Enlightened,
Reborn.
—Yefu Bai

Illumination 1
Ink and acrylic on paper
2018
78 x 48 cm

Illumination 2
Ink and acrylic on paper
2018
78 x 48 cm

Illumination 3
Ink and acrylic on paper
2018
78 x 48 cm

It isn’t unusual to see newly renovated temples and even recently built churches to house those people seeking meaning and something to believe in. Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian temples alike are festooned with the prayer ribbons and filled with offerings of incense, money, and fruit in the hope of securing good fortune in love, one’s profession, or upcoming exams. Yefu Bai was one of countless “seekers” in contemporary China, seeking to fill what is called the jingshen kongxu (the “spiritual void”)—a practicing Buddhist who eventually converted to Christianity. His series Illumination was originally titled The Human Soul. These forms, luminous yet tangible, make manifest his belief that the spirit—or soul—is as real as the body.

About the Artist
Yefu Bai was born in 1963 in Hebei Province, China. He graduated in 1990 from the Chinese Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 2012, he founded the Institute of Contemporary Spiritual Art under the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage Conservation. He now lives and works in Songzhuang, Beijing.