ARTIST STATEMENT
Have you ever had the intense longing to return home? Many migrants globally have been stuck in a foreign country, desperate to go back after the long absence of embraces from family members; and I am one of them. ‘Letter to home’ centralises the theme of reconnection, symbolising my attempt to reconnect with Chinese culture and family, since I would not have identified the importance of this connection if I never left China. Hence this comic also represents my escapism – the childish thought of mailing myself back home; and my last bit of hope and comfort to fight against homesickness.
ARTWORK PROCESS
I challenged traditional Chinese calligraphic practices through personalised, whimsical digital illustration. With a Wacom and Photoshop, I re-interpreted features from Xu Beihong’s traditional animal paintings to show my contemporary connection to Chinese culture. Initially, I considered colour character designs; however, as colour would detract from the focus, I decided upon a simple greyscale, with the only hint of colour on the hopeful motif of the envelope. After printing and trimming the comic panels and hand-crafting a replica of the envelope depicted in the comic, I suspended them in a gentle drift to reflect the inherent escapism of the tale.
