To reborn!

16.5 x 23.4 inches

2020/5

A drawing which was costing me for 3 month to finish during the beginning of pandemics, it is more of an expression of anxiety during the isolation rather than depictions of the celestial city. The celestial world, or in my understanding, the world of afterlife, was a popular subject in Chinese art. Life in view of traditional China was the concentration and flow of qi (气), the breath. Concentration of breath means life; the disspiation spells death. The qi was the main subject of this painting, their soft and fluid forms are more as images imagined than symbols existing in history. I was recalling jelly wish and parachute when creating them. The clusters of qi with semi-circular forms were inspired by the jade disk in ancient China, a precious material in Chinese culture which were usually encountered in tombs for honouring the dead.

A bridge crosses the realm of qi, where an elixir, a house with a gable roof, and a belly-shaped pot are encountered as solid representations in this world of atmospheric substance. Three objects are inspired by ancient funeral traditions left since Han Dynasties. The belly-shaped pot and elixir were believed to have the qi stored inside, which these life-enabling utensil would be capable of revitalizing life. A classical reference of these vessels is the funeral banner from a 3rd century Mawangdui tomb.

The title ‘reborn’ was provided by a teacher who opened a class I participated in the final year of my undergraduate in SAIC. The pandemics did clash nearly all of our enthausiasm and engagement in seminars. We were asked to stay home for the rest of the semester, when I was starting drawing this as the final project for this class and as the last work for my undergraduate life. In appreciation of the her encouragement as energic as warm to me for finishing this drawing, the title would honour the tough period we spent through, the precious qi supported our group during the pandemics—forever.