ARTIST STATEMENT:
In late January of 2022, a video went viral on the Chinese internet. It showed a woman chained to a wall. She had given birth to eight children in captivity. My outrage was the genesis of this painting.
I had to speak out for this enslaved woman. I painted her innocent face while I allowed her body to be a cavernous inferno out of which babies emerged. I included her many rescuers: The vlogger who discovered her, the two women arrested for investigating the case, and the many netizens of the internet who risked their freedom to help her. The menacing dark form behind this mother’s face represents the years of terror, pain and despair that she suffered.