詭異而唯美的志怪傳說

A Tender Sadness

有些作品大家都看過卻未必清楚知曉作者出處，sheep大概就是這樣一個插畫師，默默地畫著自己的畫，默默地做著自己的人形，他的插畫不算明媚也沒有正能量，卻是另一種黑暗又悲傷的細膩美，敏感纖弱的人物都彷彿訴說著關於自己的故事。

Nowadays, it』s all too common to see a piece of artwork get passed around the internet without any credits attached to the creator. One particular artist who often encounters this issue is sheep, a Chinese illustrator who purposefully stylizes his moniker with a lowercase 「s.」 But unlike most other artists, sheep doesn』t particularly mind – he』s more concerned with making art than the recognition that follows. His illustrations are peculiar; they』re beautifully illustrated, but the beauty is layered with a sense of melancholy and unease. The characters of sheep』s world are often depicted in their most vulnerable state, but they still remain eager on sharing their untold stories.

初見sheep的作品，很容易感受到一種日式氛圍，但他的作品中的靈感來源也不僅僅來自日本百鬼，還有更多《山海經》和《搜神記》中的志怪傳說。「早期學生時代會因為跟日本一些畫家的作品產生共鳴感，所以技法和題材上會有意識在所謂的日式審美做嘗試。反倒現在我創作的時候，也不會刻意去預設這是日式的，這是中式的概念了，就是整體的、我個人所想表達的東方的東西，無時代性和地域性。」就這個問題他如是說。

On first glance, some of sheep』s work might reveal hints of a Japanese influence behind the aesthetic. He explains, saying that one of his biggest inspirations isHyakki Yagyo, a Japanese folklore about a night where a hundred different demons roam the streets, but his influences actually come from other sources that extend beyond Japanese culture, such as the fictitious worlds depicted in the Chinese booksClassic ofMountains and SeasandIn Search of the Supernatural. 「When I was still a student, the works of a few Japanese manga artists really resonated with me,」 he says. 「So in terms of the technique and subjects I experimented with back then, it was influenced by Japanese culture. But for my newer works, I never stop and think if anything feels Japanese or Chinese – I』m simply interested in creating art with an overall Eastern aesthetic, art that transcends the boundaries of time and geography.」

說到這裡，我們又跟他聊了聊他最初對日本文化的了解，sheep跟我們分享了一個他小時候看的童話故事－小川未明的《紅蠟燭與人魚》：大概內容是說一條嚮往人類世界的人魚，將自己剛出生的女兒送往了海邊的神社。小人魚被海邊漁村一對沒有兒女的老夫婦遇見收養。老夫婦靠賣蠟燭為生，人魚姑娘長大後對大海充滿憧憬，開始在蠟燭上畫畫，使老夫婦的紅蠟燭名聲遠揚，成為出海人祈福的象徵，神社香火也旺了起來。有一江湖商人聞此消息，欲重金買走人魚姑娘，說人魚是不祥之物。老夫婦迷失心竅，點頭同意。商人把人魚姑娘關在籠中，裝運到海上。結果當晚雷雨暴風，巨浪滔天，貨船沉沒。從此，老夫婦的蠟燭成為災禍之物，買過的漁民出海無一倖免，生意也再做不下去了。沒過幾年，山腳下那座小鎮就成了一片廢墟，不存在了。之後偶爾會有出海的人看到海上隱約的燭光一直飄到廢墟神社前。

As we discussed his background and initial interest with Japanese culture, sheep shared that one of his favorite fairy tales as a child was Mimei Ogawa』sThe Mermaid and the Red Candles. The story is about a baby mermaid that was left at a shrine and discovered by an old couple from a seaside village who never had children of their own. The couple, who ran a candlemaking business, took the mermaid in and raised her. As the mermaid grew up, she helped the family business by drawing pictures of the ocean on the candles. Soon, these drawing made their candles quite famous in the area. Rumors about good luck blessing those who bought and lit her candles at the nearby shrine began to spread, leading to more people buying the candles. Hearing these rumors, a businessman convinced the couple that mermaids were bad luck and bought the mermaid from them. After, he locked in the mermaid in a cage and quickly left with her on a ship. On the same night, a violent storm sunk the ship. From that point on, the couple』s candles became a symbol of bad luck. All of the fishermen who bought the candles in the past all suffered an ill fate. Their candle business soon ended. Not many years later, the city became deserted, eventually turning to ruins. Legend has it now, fishermen passing by the ruins of the town would sometimes see a faintly glowing red candlelight drifting around the shrine.

這個故事沒有一般令人欣慰的圓滿結尾，也沒有十分需要令人悔改的警醒，但最後的一抹燭光卻格外引人遐思，大概這也就像sheep現在的插畫一樣，說一個點到為止的故事，他的作品集《水仙》中也以繪本的形式詮釋了這個故事。

The Mermaid and the Red Candlesdoesn』t have a happy ending or a sense closure. There』s no repentance or redemption, but it does leave plenty of room for personal interpretations. And in a way, it』s similar to sheep』s artwork now, which all have concisely constructed narratives that still leave much to the imagination of viewers. InNarcissus, sheep』s latest compilation book of his recent works, he even features an illustration based on Ogawa』s story.

陶瓷專業出身的sheep對人形和雕塑都很有興趣，因為不想局限於平面創作，他也製作了自己的人形，靠他自己一點點耐心的自學，白鹿童子也從的畫作里活化而出，他還與攝影師扣桑合作，完成了這組人形照片。

Despite sheep』s impressive illustrative works, his interests and skills have gone beyond illustration alone. He originally comes from a background in ceramic design and has always been infatuated with sculpting. Eager to break the constraint of mediums, he began learning how to make sculptures and figurines by himself. His White Deer sculpture is even based off an earlier illustration of his. As part of the project, he also enlisted the help of photographer Ko Rou, to stage and set up a variety of scenes with the completed figurine.

跟sheep聊到押井守的《無罪》，他覺得作品也會像這樣傳達一些超越內容本身的東西，「其實很多創作就跟本能吃飯等一樣，是一種類似快感的慾望，完成腦中所想的這件事會帶來不可替代的幸福感，所以我不會特別預設自己是要傳達什麼意義或者想法，其他人看到作品就是當時我所脫殼出的一部分我，反而他們其實某種層面來說是沒有意義的。」

As our discussion meandered and we began chatting about the movieGhost in theShell 2: Innocence, sheep comments that he believes art often conveys messages that surpass the original intent of the work. 「Creation is like eating. It』s to satisfy an appetite. Completing an idea gives you an unparalleled sense of gratification. When I』m creating, I don』t immediately define what concepts or ideas I want to convey through it. When other people view my work, they might be looking at an authentic piece of my soul, but to them, it could be completely meaningless.」

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