Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
2025 · Mixed media on canvas · 63 × 49.8 cm
XINYIN LIUNIAN® | 心印流年 — Bondi Series
Painting · Chinese Seals · Visible and Invisible Energy · Coastal Landscape
VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE ENERGY BETWEEN SKY AND SEA
Standing Independently Amidst Mountains and Seas No. 1 | 独立山海间（一） belongs to Jingmin Ren’s three-part XINYIN LIUNIAN® | 心印流年 — Bondi Series, created during her Bondi Pavilion Artist Studio Residency in September 2025.
The work brings together the geological presence of Bondi’s sandstone cliffs, the movement of the ocean and the cultural memory carried by Chinese seal imagery. The rocks extend powerfully into the sea, while a small sailing boat in the distance introduces a contrasting sense of scale, movement and human presence.
The painting explores both visible and invisible forms of energy. The visible energy of the landscape appears through the weight and texture of the sandstone, the movement of the sea, the changing light and the openness of the sky. Invisible energy is suggested through wind, time, memory, inner perception and the spiritual resonance connecting the individual with the natural world.
Suspended within the expansive blue sky, the red seal inscription “Standing Independently Amidst Mountains and Seas | 独立山海间” becomes more than a textual mark. It enters the landscape as a spatial and spiritual presence, connecting cultural memory with the physical environment and transforming the observed landscape into an inner experience.
The contrast between enduring stone, moving water and open sky reflects different experiences of time and energy. The landscape is not presented simply as a fixed view; it becomes a meeting place between the visible world and forces that may be sensed but cannot always be seen.
Through the integration of painting and Chinese seal language, the work repositions a traditional cultural form within the contemporary coastal environment of Sydney. The phrase “Standing Independently Amidst Mountains and Seas” is expressed both visually and philosophically—as a state of inner independence, stillness and connection within a larger field of natural and spiritual energy.
XINYIN LIUNIAN® | 心印流年 is Jingmin Ren’s ongoing interdisciplinary practice developed through her long-term engagement with Chinese leisure seals. The project explores how inherited inscriptions and seal impressions can be reactivated through contemporary painting, photography, mixed media and spatial experience.
Created during the Bondi Pavilion Artist Studio Residency, supported by Waverley Council’s Local Creative Collaborations program.
A selected work from the series was presented in Good Together at Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Sydney, in 2026.
2025 · Mixed media on canvas · 63 × 49.8 cm
XINYIN LIUNIAN® | 心印流年 — Bondi Series
Painting · Chinese Seals · Visible and Invisible Energy · Coastal Landscape
VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE ENERGY BETWEEN SKY AND SEA
Standing Independently Amidst Mountains and Seas No. 1 | 独立山海间（一） belongs to Jingmin Ren’s three-part XINYIN LIUNIAN® | 心印流年 — Bondi Series, created during her Bondi Pavilion Artist Studio Residency in September 2025.
The work brings together the geological presence of Bondi’s sandstone cliffs, the movement of the ocean and the cultural memory carried by Chinese seal imagery. The rocks extend powerfully into the sea, while a small sailing boat in the distance introduces a contrasting sense of scale, movement and human presence.
The painting explores both visible and invisible forms of energy. The visible energy of the landscape appears through the weight and texture of the sandstone, the movement of the sea, the changing light and the openness of the sky. Invisible energy is suggested through wind, time, memory, inner perception and the spiritual resonance connecting the individual with the natural world.
Suspended within the expansive blue sky, the red seal inscription “Standing Independently Amidst Mountains and Seas | 独立山海间” becomes more than a textual mark. It enters the landscape as a spatial and spiritual presence, connecting cultural memory with the physical environment and transforming the observed landscape into an inner experience.
The contrast between enduring stone, moving water and open sky reflects different experiences of time and energy. The landscape is not presented simply as a fixed view; it becomes a meeting place between the visible world and forces that may be sensed but cannot always be seen.
Through the integration of painting and Chinese seal language, the work repositions a traditional cultural form within the contemporary coastal environment of Sydney. The phrase “Standing Independently Amidst Mountains and Seas” is expressed both visually and philosophically—as a state of inner independence, stillness and connection within a larger field of natural and spiritual energy.
XINYIN LIUNIAN® | 心印流年 is Jingmin Ren’s ongoing interdisciplinary practice developed through her long-term engagement with Chinese leisure seals. The project explores how inherited inscriptions and seal impressions can be reactivated through contemporary painting, photography, mixed media and spatial experience.
Created during the Bondi Pavilion Artist Studio Residency, supported by Waverley Council’s Local Creative Collaborations program.
A selected work from the series was presented in Good Together at Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Sydney, in 2026.
