马小娟的画素以意境秀美、内涵丰富给人印象深刻。上世纪90年代，我在一次画家聚会中结识她，当时她已经从浙江美院研究生毕业来上海。后来她从上海师大调到上海中国画院，我们成为同事，我对她的了解逐渐深入起来。她是个随和友善的女画家，一言一行就像她画中的人物，有一种自然的淳朴，而在这种淳朴表象背后，则透露出优雅和恬淡的气质。平时她说话不多，言语不紧不慢间却真诚率直，有自己的立场和见地，从不违心地敷衍，也无丝毫矫情。她有个性，却不张扬，在淡定中寓含着坚韧和果敢。

　　马小娟的人物画基本功扎实。这种功夫表现在她对以陈老莲为代表的传统人物画的传承上，更体现于她把传统中国绘画的写意精神熔铸到了自己的笔墨之中，无论是人物造型、画面构成，还是笔墨技法、意境营造，她都能融古而出新，形成自己别致的韵味。

　　明朗的画风、广阔的空间、深广的意境、浪漫的温情，以及娴雅的笔墨，构成了马小娟人物画的艺术魅力。她的作品蕴涵着传统绘画的精神内涵，同时呈现出现代审美意识和表现手法，在平和安逸的氛围中，营造出一份奇妙的神采，建构起兼具古意和今情的艺术世界。

　　马小娟才华横溢，她也是一位格外勤奋刻苦的画家，以“多一份耕耘多一份收获”为自己的座石铭，孜孜砭石乞地求索。虽然我没有看到她的创作过程，但她的每一幅作品，让人都能体味到艰辛的付出。

　　在《黔岭深处》这幅作品中，一群盛装的苗家妇女正向深山缓缓走去。画面上人物都是背影，几乎不出现脸部。应该说这样的表现手法有悖常理。然而正是画家如此非同寻常的构思赋予了作品独特的艺术效果。画面带来含蓄和神秘的意味，更加深刻和清晰地指向了人和自然的内在，从而更大限度地展示出深远的空间和深厚的力量。同样，表现藏民题材，画家通常会赋以浓墨重彩，而马小娟的《甘南组画》却以淡雅空灵的笔墨、潇洒轻松的技法突出显现了青藏高原白雪覆盖、一片苍茫的生活环境。在马小娟的作品里，看似小小的格局总是延伸出辽阔的空间，从这儿，也体现出她创作的境界。

　　我们有些画家老是抱怨生活太平淡无奇，可以入画的新鲜内容越来越少，表现的范围也越来越狭窄，即使不重复古人，却难免要重复自己。而马小娟总是能以敏锐的眼光捕捉生活中的闪光点，有时是一个场景，有时是一段过程，而有时则是一种心情。那些司空见惯的物象经由她的笔墨和视角表现出来，同时又寄寓她的情绪和感受，总能够显得格外与众不同，充满了新鲜的活力。她在第十届全国美展上获奖的《国色》就是一个例子。她参加了一个庆典活动，当大家的注意力都放在庆典本身上时，她却关注到了那些身着盛装的礼仪小姐，她们端庄的仪容、优美的姿态，在具有民族特点的红色旗袍映衬下，显得妖娆而又华贵。这些女孩子在马小娟的笔下已经超越了现实的范畴，而成为了一种具有特殊寓意的象征符号，她们既是青春活力的代表，又是民族复兴的表征，也是和谐社会的缩影。最值得一提的是，这一切，都不是马小娟刻意追求和表达的。在她的画里，没有概念化，也没有抽象化，她的成功之处就在于寓奇险于平淡，在看似平静的湖面下涌动着源自内心的真实感触和情感激流。

　　马小娟是一个对生活对艺术充满了热爱的画家。在我的印象里，绘画之外，她爱好旅行采风。在美院读书时，她就曾只身深入大凉山和福建沿海渔村写生。旅途的劳累和艰辛对她来说似乎从不在话下，走入广阔的大自然，她的关注点都在沿途的风土人情上，她会情不自禁地发出赞叹，用艺术的眼光去品味和发现。记得有一次在赴四川藏区采风的路上，她突然认真地说： “我想好了一个创作题材，叫《高原红》。”回沪后，她很快完成了作品。一处高原常见的情景和一首脍炙人口的歌曲联系在一起，显示出她出众的艺术想象力和创造力。这正是印证了罗丹的话：对于主活，不是缺乏美，而是缺乏发现。

　　马小娟的人物画之美， 既有丰富情感之寄托，又有着笔墨处理上的别出心裁。人物的变形夸张是她最基本的特点。这种变形或机智、或狡黠，有时不乏幽默，熟而后生的境界是一种朴拙的升华。她把“以形写神”的古训转化为“以神写形”，在看似观念先行的创作中逐步形成自己的艺术语言系统。

　　马小娟的笔墨是轻松而又写意的，她的线条收放自如，节奏感非常好。虽然抑扬顿挫变化不多，却也徐徐道来，娓娓动听。她的设色大多淡雅明润，仿佛淡雾轻罩，又好像薄纱虚掩，明快而不艳丽，显示出高华不俗的气息。

　　近年来， 马小娟佳作迭出，但她却始终没有放松对自己的要求，仍然脚踏实地地画好每一幅画。她用三年时间完成了《红楼梦》、《金瓶梅》两套组画的同时，在水墨人物画创作方面又开始了自己新一轮的探索。尤其是在现实题材的人物画创作上，她又有了新的突破，《八女投江》、《国色》、《高原红》、《甘南组画》、《幸福落满坡》、《黔岭深处》、《远山》、《轻风吹过》等一批源于生活的优秀作品给人以耳目一新的感觉。她犹如一股远离俗世的涓涓山泉，流淌在她的唯美世界里。

　　An Aesthetic World in Xiaojuan's Heart

　　Han Shuo

　　Paintings by Ms. Ma Xiaojuan, with a style of the graceful artistic conception and the deep meaning, have left a deep impression on us. In 1990’s, I knew her in a party of painters when she came to Shanghai after graduated from Zhejiang Artistic Academy as a postgraduate student. After that, she was transferred from Shanghai Normal University to Shanghai Chinese Paintings Academy and became my colleague. She is obliging to people and honest by nature, having a very calm temperament; she doesn’t say a lot but very much to the point; she does neither commend her meritorious service nor extol her reputation; and also she is indifferent to worldly concerns.

　　Ma Xiaojuan has gained mastery of basic skill in figure painting. We can see this skill from her painting works which followed the styles of Chen Laolian and other painters in that time. She has had her own characteristics not only in figure and structure but also in technique and conception.

　　The artistic charm of figure paintings made by Ma Xiaojuan lies in bright style of painting, broad space, deep and secluded artistic conception, tender feeling and elegant skill of drawing. Her painting works revealed both the traditional meaning and the modern aesthetic idea, and made a peaceful and artistic world.

　　Ma Xiaojuan is a painter of overflowing brilliance and is diligent in drawing pictures; her motto is “The more plough and weeding, the better the crop” (or “No pains, no gains”). Her every painting shows great efforts she has made.

　　In the picture “In the Depths of the Qianling Mountains”, a group of the Miao women dressed in gay colors are walking into mountains slowly; we can look for view of their back and could hardly see their faces. This way which seems contrary to common sense just expressed the unique artistic result. This picture with mysterious meaning shows bigger space and stronger artistic power. Other painters usually use rich and heavy ink to draw about Tibet people, but Ma Xiaojuan use elegant and light ink in her painting work “A series of pictures of the South in Gansu”, showing us the vast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau covered by snow. A small pictures made by Ma Xiaojuan always give us a large space, revealing her conception in painting.

　　Some painters often complain that life is so boring that they could draw less and less about it, and that they are hard to avoid repeating themselves even though not to repeat predecessors. Ma Xiaojuan, however, is able to seize a good opportunity one after another for finding new things in life: sometimes it is a scene, sometimes a process, and sometimes a feeling. Common places in life will be out of the ordinary and be full of vigor in her painting works. The picture “The Matchless Beauty”, awarded in the Tenth National Painting Exhibition, is a good example. Once in a celebration, she paid attention to those young ladies serving at the ceremony. They had graceful and dignified manners, and were elegantly in red cheongsam. Those young ladies became special symbols of youth and vigor, as well as national revival and social harmony. It is mostly worth saying that Ma Xiaojuan drew these pictures very naturally instead of conceptually and abstractly. Her success lies in placing extraordinary in the simple; there is a torrent of feelings under a peaceful lake.

　　Ma Xiaojuan is full of love for art and life. Besides painting, she is fond of journey and drawing from nature. During the college of arts as a student, she once went to the Daliang Mountain and coastal area of Fujian province alone to draw from life and nature. Having no regard for physical discomfort, she marveled at and tasted the beautiful of nature. Once on the way to go to Sichuan, she said suddenly: “I am going to draw a picture named ‘Red on the plateau’”. After returning to Shanghai, she finished the picture quickly, combining the scene with a pop song and showing her imaginative power. It confirmed what was said by Rodin: “There is short of finding instead of the beautiful in your life.”

　　Figure paintings Ma Xiaojuan makes have both feelings and characteristics. Exaggeration with humor is the basic painting way she uses. She has formed her own system of art in the practice of painting with the modern concept.

　　Ma Xiaojuan uses her painting brush with ease and draws lines freely. She slowly tells us a lot through her painting works although in a little changeable way. She always use light and elegant colors in pictures, looking like mist and fine gauze, and being of magnificent appearance.

　　In recent years, Ma Xiaojuan has drawn good paintings one after another. It took her three years to finish illustrations for “A Dream of Red Mansions” and “Plum in the Gold Vase”; she has effected a major breakthrough in making figure wash paintings, such as “Eight Girls Jumping into the River”, “The Matchless Beauty”, “Red on Plateau”, “A series of pictures of the South in Gansu”, “Hillside being full of happiness”, “In the depths of the Qianling Mountains”, “Distant Mountains”, “Passing Wind”, etc. Ma Xiaojuan, just like a limpid stream in mountain valley, flows in an aesthetic world of her heart.