Carpe Diem-Winning & Losing
150 x 150 cm
Acrylic on Canvas
2017

The 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac have always been an important source of inspiration for Chinese artists, and I am no exception. As I look through the history of Chinese painting and Chinese folk art history, I noticed that the image of the lion appears very often. It is much to my surprise, for the lion is not a Chinese Zodiac animal. Later I learned that this was because of people’s fondness for the image of ‘lion dance.’ The pronunciation of the Chinese character signifying the ‘lion’ (shi) is very similar to that of the character signifying ‘drama’ (xi). In Chinese folk art, it is quite popular to imply wishes for luck and happiness by playing tricks with homophonic characters, especially after the Qing dynasty began. This link between word and image seems to resonate with how Western people paint paintings inspired by the Greek myth to reflect reality. Thus, I take the lion as the motif for this work, displaying different emotions and feelings in life. There is a lion (shi) here, which stands for having dramas (xi) in life. And that means life is full of stories and flavors.