Title: Space・Grandfather Wang’s House・Garden・Colour
Year Completed: 2021
Size: 53.0 × 45.5 cm (10F)
Technical: Oil paint and Canvas

Description
This is the first memory I have of an old house—the courtyard of my cousin's grandfather's house. I think this is because when I was little, my parents and grandparents had to work, and my maternal grandparents lived in another city. So, my grandparents would leave me at my cousin's grandfather's house. Their house was structured in a U-shape, with a courtyard in the middle of the U, which I found very special. When I create, I first determine the positions of red, yellow, and blue, which usually represent spaces that I find particularly meaningful. In this painting, red represents the passageway, yellow represents the flowerbed, and blue represents the door. I especially liked the red passageway because it led to the traditional three-section compound where my cousin's great-grandmother used to live. I often hid in that passageway with my cousin to eat ice cream. We liked that passageway because adults rarely went there. During the day, the adults were usually on the opposite side of the red passageway, which is the perspective of this painting, working in their family's factory. I also liked the yellow flowerbed, which had a lot of plants, though it seems like there are fewer plants now. I always wanted to stand on the flowerbed's raised bed to look at the plants inside, but now I feel like the raised bed is so low. After choosing the positions of the primary colours, I start allocating the spaces for black and white, which are generally more prominent or large objects. Finally, I add grey. If there are more than two shades of grey, I use the light and shadow to determine the shades: light areas get light grey, and shadowed areas get dark grey. The black used in these ten pairs, twenty paintings, is a special kind called “Peach Black.” It has a unique flavour when spread out, almost like a bluish black, which is quite special. When blending the primary colours, I use thickening painting medium, while for black, white, and grey, I use standard painting medium. This makes the red, yellow, and blue stand out more and seem to move more dynamically within the space.