The artwork of Tao Fa invokes a direct sense that nature is speaking to us, and that everything holds a spiritual essence, such as in animism. Whether they are of the sky, earth, clouds, trees, grass, or animals, his works all embody a soul and act as individual entities filled with life. This has a lot to do with the fact that he belongs to the Hmong people, who believe that boulders, caves, trees, mountains and other natural objects possess a divine nature or spirit. From the use of colors, compositions, and lines in his painterly language, we can feel the power of freedom. That kind of mental state is as if a child is running and playing at will, enjoying him/herself in a boundless nature. For an artist, this is a rare and more precious creative state of mind.

Tao Fa has long lived in Yunnan. The natural landscapes in the region molded by the local geography, climate, and overall environment have been refined by him to become a part of his artistic language found in his paintings. In works, such as Jizu Holy Mountain, Calling to Spring, Welcoming Spring, Greeting, the triangular image of the mountain is the same look as the Big Mountain in Yunnan which Tao often looks at squarely from a distance. Moreover, the unique red soil in Yunnan has also taken on a prominent watermelon-red color in these artworks. Green mountains and red soil have been enlivened in Tao’s works, retaining more vitality than any landscape in reality. Though once a child herding cattles in a mountain, he now solemnly and confidently expresses himself by picking up the brush. It is precisely because of this environment in which he grew up that led him to develop this untainted and unconstrained way of painting, much like a child. You won’t see any traces of technique from any particular master, because all of them are created from his own particular experiences.

Artists are constantly in a state of contemplation. And art, in the end, may still go back to the very essence of those very basic inquiries: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? Ultimately, it is still based upon pondering about these simple and yet not-so-simple questions as well as personal daily life. Tao Fa paints what he perceives in the everyday world. He believes firmly in the existence of spirits, such as mountain ghosts. Even small demons appear in his narratives of nature. He observes through a certain manner, including the very values that he carries himself. He is able to paint so colourfully and vibrantly, even a common mountain field he passes on his way home. From very early on, Tao has already integrated himself as one with the natural forests in Yunnan, and familiarized himself with every corner there. On his canvas, we can often see symbolic codes similar to runes that blend the sky and earth together. These lines of runes have become one of the major formalistic elements in his paintings, like a kind of writing, or more like a mysterious character whispering to himself in the picture, conveying a sense of the mystical and the natural beauty of the primeval.