From Pictogram to Pinyin. . .And Beyond

Some external information is probably needed in order for you to approach this piece with an informed eye, so I’m going to talk briefly about the Chinese writing system, the use of text in contemporary Chinese art, the political situation in Hong Kong and my views about the city, and why I chose to work in this medium. So first, a brief history of the Chinese writing system. In the West, public squares were dominated by figurative statues of heroes and rulers, but in China, ceremonial inscriptions and texts by a ruler engraved in stone were often found instead. That is an example of how calligraphy is deeply rooted in Chinese history and tradition