Moon in Reflection

If we speak of `what is real [has tangible form]?
Even a speck of dust or a grain of sand is real.
Yet, there is nothing that is real.
Everything is illusory,
Like the moon reflected in water
Neither real nor unreal is the infinite void [Universe].
(A Zen poem)

Kim Hoa Tram (Shen Jinhe in Chinese) was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1959 to a family originally from Fujian province in China. Kim migrated to Australia in 1984 and is now living in Melbourne. For more than ten years, Kim has immersed himself in Zen (Chan in Chinese) Buddhism. In his art, he draws inspiration from his spirituality in Zen and from his roots in the Chinese tradition, its art and culture, especially Chinese ink painting
and calligraphy.

Kim’s paintings and calligraphies are evocative of an aesthetic and spiritual experience. Moon in Reflection is a journey to spiritual enlightenment and artistic discovery. Kim has explored the human condition of birth, old age, sickness and death, the various themes in Zen philosophy: impermanence, delusion and meditation as a way to spiritual awakening (wu in Chinese and satori in Japanese).

Moon in Reflection gathers together works by this artist from the National Gallery of Victoria’s permanent Asian collection and is held during the World Olympics in Beijing, China 2008.