Black Lion, Black Ribbon, 2021
Notes on symbolism
Stars, they have so many different meanings in different context. The four smaller stars on the Chinese flag face inwards towards the bigger star, which represents the CCP. The smaller stars themselves represent the four classes in society. Basically, everyone bows to a central authority. For the design of this circular window, I made the stars’ top points pointing outward, each in their own direction. There is a more prominent golden star on top, but the other stars aren’t bowing to it. Everyone is free to go in their own direction.
The color pink was used for the architectural elements. It’s inspired by the color of the Texas capitol, which is made with pink granite found in the state. Some of the design is also inspired by parts of the external flourishes of the dome.
The flytraps are something I have used in previous work, but the meaning continue to evolve as I also continue to adjust the way they are drawn. There are two kinds here, a more domestic house plant type in the corner and a more wild variation outside the window. They look a little succulent like, reminiscent of the kind of vegetation native to the desert parts of Texas. I have added a heart in the middle, and I made it resemble the sacred heart, a Catholic symbol. The visual of the plant is a play on the idea of compassion from a predatory plant. It’s about kindness not freely given, and also a kind of prickly beauty that lays still until it doesn’t.
The lion at the center of the piece is based on a Cantonese lion dance costume. I have talked about this tradition before, there are plenty of interesting things about it you can find online, including a YouTube documentary about the making of these very elaborate costumes. Before I decided on the color scheme of the lion, I looked up many videos of competitive lion dance to get an idea for the anatomy of the lion so I can depict it as an actual creature rather than two dancers wearing a lion costume. I saw one that was taking place in Hong Kong last year, there were two troupes from Hong Kong competing in that same competition, one had a yellow lion and the other had a black lion. These were the two colors used by protestors during the 2019 anti extradition movement in Hong Kong, with yellow being the color used by everyone supporting the movement in general and black being used to indicate support for “armed” factions of the protest. The black lion in the competition had a really energetic, almost jittery kind of style, versus the yellow one that was much more traditional in choreography. The costume of the black one also really struck me, it actually had black fabric with white flower speckles and black fur trims, its eyes were also black and white concentric circles, almost like a hypnosis type visual aid. I really really wanted to use this black and white only color scheme, but I just knew it wouldn’t work with this piece that has so much focus on symmetry in the composition. So I compromised and made a cuter, more colorful and friendlier palette. White flower on black was the flag of choice for some protesters. It does away with the red in the official HK flag, which represents CCP. I have featured that flower on the forehead of the lion. It’s a bauhinia, a flower native to HK. The pendent the lion is wearing is reminiscent of the Union Jack, a reference to HK’s colonial history, a part of our heritage that a lot of HKers actually speak quite fondly of in comparison to the current chaos under CCP.
Lastly, the fruit/flower in the lower right corner- they are objects I made up after studying some of the forms of Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights. Maybe they are the lion’s chew toys, who knows? Or maybe they are offerings to the lion left there by someone. I think back to the way Cantonese altars look. To an outsider, they see these fengshui dioramas and objects as curiosities, alien and foreign, but beautiful. I think I like making up things like that from time to time because it’s a weird thing to mix religious reverence with the idea of fetish objects and exoticism. Imbuing physical objects with spiritualism also serves as a bridge between our real world with an imagined, psychological space, which is what is depicted in this painting.
Currently, under the new National Security Law forced onto HK by the CCP, a lot of these symbolisms about the protest are banned. People get in trouble if they wear shirts that reference the protest. I have heard ridiculous stories about it being sensitive to wear black or yellow surgical masks even if it doesn’t have any protest slogans on them. HK people have been arrested for minor offenses. I would not be able to make art like this and talk about it in this way in HK. Fortunately, I am not in HK, so I can make and write whatever I want. Lion dance is a part of Cantonese culture that is distinct from Northern Chinese culture. Cantonese is a distinct ethnic identity apart from Northern Chinese. Hong Kong is also a distinct culture apart from mainland culture, though this may be eroding as time passes. I have knowledge of this, it lives within me, and I do my best to speak it out loud when I am able to articulate the complexity of it all. The takeaway message is this: don’t lightly make comparisons between America and other truly authoritarian regimes. Value your freedom, value democracy and the way it works. If America is truly like other oppressive places, people from those places wouldn’t keep coming here to seek refuge despite its flaws.