The Flower - Untitled

 This piece is inspired by a scene from Under the Sun, a documentary capturing the lives of the North Korean people.

Within the film, every element of "beautiful life" is meticulously orchestrated and staged. The little girl in the painting ought to be the one growing most robustly, yet the most flourishing, most radiant entity is that massive red flower. This potted plant was a mandatory state requirement, cultivated to be offered to their deceased leader on their so-called "Day of the Sun."

I deliberately marginalized the child. I used a palette knife, near-frigid monochrome tones, and minimal variation to depict this poor girl. This vast expanse of washed-out, blurred space serves only to expose the artificial brilliance of the flower. I painted that bloom with the purest pigments, weaving in gold to lend its voluptuousness an exaggerated, deceptive intensity. Under rigid engineering, even each leaf seems to possess its own distinct "character," while this poor child is stripped of any self-expression of her own.

But it shouldn't be this way.

Why? is a monumental oil painting created by Chinese artist Cheng Conglin, reflecting upon a feverish, ideological era after the Cultural Revolution. This work, similarly, stands as my own quiet reflection on a highly eccentric, isolated nation in our world.