As a painter, Ding Yi's personalized and iconic style is to repeatedly and carefully construct his pictures with cross-shaped patterns. His minimalist vision theory seems to be in opposition to other theories and related topics. Here, painting is not a fantasy, nor is it the object to present it. By systematically repeating and using the cross to form the most direct visual effect, Ding Yi explored an abstract aesthetics. Organized abstract practice and repeated changes in patterns make his works particularly eye-catching in pertinent abstract paintings of contemporary art and arouse people's curiosity. The harmonious cross-shaped elements in the works vividly show the complex influence between rigor and dynamics.
Yi Ding has been painting the cross of Mi Zige since 1980s. Starting from the artistic concept of minimalism, he concentrated repetitive work and unconscious psychological experience on canvas. He developed a set of rich expression techniques for this simple subject from many aspects, such as color, brush strokes, material texture and so on. Abstract painting is regarded as a development and achievement in Shanghai, which is inseparable from Yi Ding's efforts. Behind the abstract appearance is the pursuit of artistic consciousness and independent spirit, which is also in line with Shanghai's cultural character.