Plum and peony flowers, 2023

John Black  

Diptych: Oil on canvas with laser-cut transparent acrylic overlay (Chinese characters)

In Plum and peony flowers, John Black confronts one of the world's most sensitive geopolitical tensions — the complex relationship between China and Taiwan — through the quiet, enduring symbolism of national flowers. Painted on two distinct canvases, the plum blossom (representing Taiwan) and the peony (symbol of mainland China) appear side by side, each occupying its own space, yet visually resonating through a shared palette and expressive linework.

The plum blossoms are rendered with graceful simplicity: delicate petals, subtle tonal variation, and an air of quiet resolve. In contrast, the peony blooms with flamboyant energy — layered, full-bodied, and almost explosive in its painterly complexity. The visual contrast reflects not only aesthetic differences, but deeper political, cultural, and historical narratives.

Across both panels, a transparent acrylic overlay features the Chinese characters 和平 ( — “peace"), laser-cut directly into the surface. These words hover lightly above the flowers, visible yet intangible — a conceptual bridge that does not force unity, but invites dialogue. The gesture of cutting through the acrylic instead of the canvas preserves the integrity of each painted nation, while still binding them within a shared aspiration.

Plum and peony flowers avoid didacticism, opting instead for nuance. It is a visual conversation in bloom — layered, fraught, and full of grace — where peace is not imposed, but imagined.