In recent years, Deng Chengwen has shifted the focus of his work towards the essence of painting, and has conducted a diverse exploration around the content, materials, form, and concept. He has gradually completed the transformation of the painting paradigm: from the themed narrative and figurative expression represented by the Blind Walk series, he has moved towards a themeless and anti-figurative visual language, by transcending the perceptual experience based on the mechanism of reproduction and refining the basic forms of painting language "Back to the painting itself".

Similar to the phenomenological claim of "Back to the things themselves," Deng's work requires the suspension of the old binary logic of painting. From the outset, painting is not a reproduction and interpretation of objective objects, nor is it realistic. In the ongoing Form series, he frees himself from the constraints of specific objects in painting. The most fundamental language of painting: color, line, light and shadow, texture, rhythm, and atmosphere is collided, combined, and generated on the canvas through the artist's inner consciousness, opening up possibilities for richer encounters.

The Form series is based on the photo that Deng took from everyday observations. The texture and fluidity of the natural forms of used towels became the starting point for the Form series. After completely severing the association with actual material, the flattening and abstraction of the Form series brings a metaphysical interest to the new painting. The expression of the painting itself and the completion of the work are inseparable from the artist's profound painting skills. The "Towels" are repeatedly kneaded, dyed, torn, fused, and transformed, and their original properties are destroyed. The consciousness and images exist in a purer way, like mathematical functions.

To fully uncover the potential of painting, one should not overly preset the image. With a phenomenological attitude that eschews explanation, Deng begins his work from a state of consciousness that blurs the boundaries between subject and object. Faced with a blank canvas, he does not feel the "freedom of having nothing," but instead sees the manifestation of his inner consciousness. So, he randomly chooses a few colors and then freely mixes them, unconstrained by brushes, scrapers, or other tools. Following his intuition, he smears out the basic forms and color schemes, and the subsequent work is more about going with the flow until a certain state of balance is reached and the painting can come to a temporary end.

This is a process of moving from the "unconsciousness" to the "consciousness". When external constraints are removed, the artist's internal spirit begins to take over the picture, revealing the artist's overall existence. In the Form series, the artist and the picture need to be considered together. Painting is not only decided by the free will of a person named "Deng Chenwen", but also those invisible forces - the aesthetic traditions that he accepts and absorbs, or simply the bad weather or the hangover of this morning.

From where do lines begin, and where do they end or turn? How can color transitions be handled and presented with the intended effect? How can the hard or soft feeling of a certain area be controlled? 

These are all problems that naturally arise during the process of creating an artwork. For the artist, the consciousness that emerges on the canvas is not naturally established and requires examination of its origin, determination of its form, and the application of aesthetics, perception, tradition, reason, and even the entirety of existence in order to delete and fill in, to expel the meaning that arrived prematurely through repeated modifications. Even if everything in the painting has been predetermined, it still requires a great effort to achieve.

The naming of this series as Form does not imply that these works are merely a study of form in painting. Form is simply a prerequisite for the creation of painting, while the language of painting itself is of greater importance. Ultimately, this leads to a spiritual and transcendent understanding, such as a repositioning of viewing, a repeated search for order, a re-identification with tradition, and so on. By exploring and presenting "Form", Deng attempts to make the painting a faithful representation of consciousness, and to depict it in a delicate and balanced style.

In recent works, the artist seems to intentionally increase the complexity of the composition. Faint shadows pass by on top of solid forms, ending up in the depth of the canvas, creating a clever interplay between lightness and weight. When the painting itself becomes the object of consciousness, the boundaries of the painting language and the boundaries of consciousness are simultaneously revealed. The artist needs to grasp the meeting point in the changing process and determine the boundaries of each through comparison. Just as Gerhard Richter condensed the vast ocean into a stroke of blue, Deng's changes in form, starting from the foundation of painting, reveal the harmony and chaos of existence in a "solipsistic" manner.

After cancellation of things, the basic elements and mechanisms that determine our viewing and expression become even more prominent. Although abandoning concrete objects as the entry point into the painting, the artist can continue to explore and practice in a more purified dimension. After dealing with a small area of texture or finishing a line, Deng can recognize both his inheritance from Rembrandt and his own individual existence from the painting, just as a plant recognizes the flowers and fruits it bears.

In his view, there also exists a kinship relationship between the viewer and the artwork. However, the themes, figurative elements, and symbols present in the artwork both reveal and conceal, and even deceive when explained. Only by eliminating these superfluous elements can art become a free visual game for both artist and viewer. 

In the Form series, the painter preserves only the basic visual language of painting, creating a space for imagination and emotional activity. This allows viewers to bring their own experiences, traditions, and individualized existence, forming a "misreading" of the artwork as the way of discovering truth and encountering the artwork, the artist, and another world.