烏托邦 Utopia Utopía, 2023
Acrylic on Canvas
Diameter 500 mm
Price : $12,800｜$13,600 (Frame)
Artist : Laiming Segura
#Artwork is not under the shipping discount service.
Story behind
In the 21st century when the world economy is developing rapidly, and scientific and cultural powers can be seen in all walks of life, there are still uncivilized phenomena such as discrimination, fighting, and bullying. Maybe we do not see the problem, especially when we are on the strong or majority side.
When I immigrated to Spain, the most obvious change was that I changed from being on the side of the strong and the majority, to being in the minority easily to be marginalized.
In the last 20 years I can tell you that I have had rich experience of being treated as inferior, negligible or "you do not belong here". 20 years ago there were not many Chinese living in Mallorca. Even if there were some, they were immigrants from Mainland China who came to Spain to make a living and did not have a chance to receive high education. They do not know Spanish and are often misunderstood or being looked down upon by the foreigners. As for me, in order to integrate quickly into the community, during first two years of my arrival I learned Catalan (the local language in Mallorca) with the refugees from Africa, practiced Spanish with the cleaning ladies, and studied Mandarin with all my heart, hoping one day I could explain and stand up for my culture in front of the foreigners. In just a few years, I changed from being an egocentric Hong Kong girl to a more empathetic person. Initially I taught English at a language school to make ends meet. But then I realized that if I wanted to live with dignity as a Chinese, I had to switch to teaching Chinese. Do not think that being born a Chinese automatically makes you capable of teaching the language! How many nights I stayed up to memorize the Chinese Pinyin, and how many dawns I woke up early just to create Chinese games that I thought might be engaging. Perhaps I had too much experience of meeting condescending people and not being treated fairly, now whenever I say a word or do something, I will make sure I do not bully or hurt the others intentionally.
The cats and dogs in the painting come from different races and origins, but they are all heading towards the same direction, looking for peace and love. In my imaginary world, there are no fights or quarrels in the journey. Perhaps it is just a utopia, but I believe that when everyone has the same wish for peace and love, we can make it.
PRODUCT INFO
