Book
Birds
As a birder and illustrator, I enjoy watching birds and drawing inspiration from the process. This allows me to combine my experiences with my imagination. Birds provide me with endless inspiration.
Different birds produce unique voices, some resembling musical instruments. In this picture, I combined birds I observed in the U.S.A and China. The Chinese blackbird is like plucking strings of a guitar, the Grey-headed woodpecker drums on trees with its beak, the Spotted dove’s deep voice is similar to a horn’s, the Brown-flanked bush warbler’s whistle-like song stands out, and the Red-bellied woodpecker’s loud voice resembles that a poor trumpet player.
The Oriental Magpie-Robin has a beautiful sound, reminiscent of a skilled pianist playing delicate melodies.
A few flowers of the Virginia spiderwort bloom each morning, only to wilt later in the day, with their petals transforming into a jelly-like substance. Perhaps these are the plant’s tears, moved by the plaintive, sorrowful cry of the Mourning Dove.
Many collared finchbills perched on the bean farms, and when someone passed by, they suddenly flew up.
I wish I had a pair of gifted ears that could understand birdsong.
One morning during my trip in Hainan island, I saw a male Yellow-bellied songbird looking around the rear-facing mirror of an electro-tricycle. Was he attracted by the reflection of himself?
Many kinds of egrets live in the mangrove wetlands near the sea. If you watch them through a scope, you will find that those areas are actually large motels for those big birds and provide fresh seafood for their customers.
Whispers of Winter
This series of paintings consists of seven canvases, mimicking the form of a triptych. It was inspired by a visit to a zoo in winter. Water popped out from tubes into the half-frozen lake, resembling swans flying upward. Based on this illusion, I imagined a zoo system: a mole in charge of a tank of hot water underground, below the lake. Water from the tank turns into swans as it flows through four tubes. Frogs in the tank spit bubbles upward, which rise to the greenhouse and nourish the plants there. Although the outside is cold and pale, when the swans fly into the greenhouse, they transform into colorful birds.
Animal-inspired Products
Besides observing nature directly, I also enjoy reading books, watching documentaries, or simply browsing websites about animals. When I meet a new and interesting animal, I make associations. In this series, I imagined myself as a product designer. Based on the body structure and behavioral characteristics of each animal, I envisioned what they could be transformed into in everyday life and created these product manuals.
Rockery