Rewinding
Rewinding is the series of illustrations is about the interweaving of Chinese and American culture in my life. When I came to the US, I always struggle about which culture I belonged to. I wanted to use my art to encourage all people with similar concerns: each of us is a unique individual with precious memories.
Piece1: Childhood Impression
Chinese people attach great importance to family and tradition, as the first piece art in the series, I drew the scene of my great-grandfather's house. I extracted the items and elements of my childhood memory (thermos bottles, Buddha statues, new year's greetings, reunions of family and friends), in this way, the memory and love for my hometown will remain in my mind forever.
Piece2: Merging
This piece resembles the blending of both culture. The smoke rises in the hot pot represents the mental journey of new immigrants or people living in a multi-cultural environment: from struggle to success.
In this series of illustration, I used colored paper-cuts as decorations. For me, memory is like a flash of fragments, and these paper-cuts express my understanding of the concept of “memory”.
I also learned Asian painting methods and integrated them into my project. In the last picture, the cloud pattern in the background is from Ukiyoe. I used the traditional Chinese realistic painting techniques to draw the cityscape below. The core tones in this painting are red and green, and they are the main colors used in many traditional Chinese architectures. I hope such palette can convey my admiration and pride for my ancestry.
