Traditional Chinese brush paintings on Xuan is mounted on another backing piece of Xuan, to give it rigidity and proper white balance. For my process of mounting on clear acrylic board this backing piece is mounted on the back of the board. I basically trim out a piece of blank Xuan using the same dimensions as the painting, and mark the position on the protective sheathing of the acrylic board.
The fixative is an iron-on silicone sheet made for dry mounting.
the silicone sheet is trimmed to the same exact dimension as the backing Xuan
the backing on the silicone sheet is peeled off after initial ironing
Breaking up trapped air bubbles using a pin or thumb tack. This is a critical step because these air pockets prevent proper adhesion of the silicone to the acrylic board. If this is not done properly, then whatever we try to fix on top of the silicone will show air pockets too.
The blank sheet of Xuan is ironed on after mitigating all the bubbles
Once the backing Xuan is in place, I flipped the acrylic board over and repeat the same process with the actual painting on the top side, using the position of the backing as my guide for proper placement of the painting
The ironing process with the painting has to be slow and methodical, taking care to spread and iron out the creases.
When additional air pockets are encountered, break them with a pin and pass the iron over the area again.
I decided to be a little less meticulous with ironing the petals. I found the little imperfections described their textures rather well. I thus left minute creases and folds at strategic locations on the leaves and flower petals.
The finished sandwich of painting-acrylic board-backing is ready to be inserted into the custom frame that I built for this painting
The finished product as it hangs on the wall
I am quite partial to the effect of the clear border around the painting itself. It is much less confining than a traditional frame, and yet looks finished and expensive. It is a lot of additional work but at the end of the day I'm quite happy with it.
I found a painting of a rose I did some 15 years ago and it is interesting to look at it now and reminisce a little. I think I have matured.
I mentioned at the beginning that my Sulio Xuan Ban set up lends itself quite nicely to special lighting effects. Here is an example of placing a light source behind the painting. I am of course exploiting the translucent property of the Xuan. This could be placed on an occasional table with a mood light behind it. I can visualize the drama it could create in a study or a foyer.
