MONSTER — meng donglai 孟东来

^{Monster

oil on canvas

60*80cm}

Taking care of my nephew has been an interesting experience. I have discovered that this five-year-old boy has a vivid imagination for monsters. He truly believes in the existence of these evil creatures with ten eyes and a sinister presence. He believes they lurk outside in the courtyard or fly overhead, waiting to pounce and devour him.

This fascinating phenomenon reminded me of "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, at the same time Dionysus, Peter Pan, and Nezha in Chinese mythology. They have sparked my thoughts on 'Puer Aeternus' psychological status.

The Puer Aeternus, a term coined by psychologist Carl Jung, refers to the eternal boy or Peter Pan syndrome, a psyche that represents a longing for adventure and a refusal to grow up and a symbol of innocence and rebellion, and a search for meaning.

For me, the monsters in my nephew's imagination represent the unknown, the dangers and uncertainties of growing up, and the fear of leaving behind the comfort and security of childhood. It has also made me reflect on my experiences and how I have used immersive daydreaming to escape and comfort my daily life. Based on all these, I created a pair of strange 'good friends' in my painting series, a little boy with a horse face and a horse with a boy's face, alluding to each other spiritually. They wandered through forests, suburbs, towns and cities and met other monsters. They are happy and lonely.

Sometimes people are obsessed with the illusion of youth and hope to be a teenager forever, but ignore the real danger of it, and necessarily the price. It could be a trap created by the era or just an alarmist. Who knows? At least, the 'Monsters' offers a possibility of how individuals use escapism and fantasy to deal with the complexities of life and a deeper approach to their sense of self.

照顾我的侄子是一次有趣的经历。我发现这个五岁的男孩对怪物的想象力非常丰富。他真的相信这些长着十只眼睛的凶恶存在的邪恶生物的存在。他相信它们潜伏在外面的院子里或飞过头顶，等着扑过来吞噬他。

这个迷人的现象让我想起了安托万·德·圣埃克苏佩里的《小王子》，同时也让我想起了中国神话中的酒神、小飞侠和哪吒。他们引发了我对“Puer Aeternus”心理状态的思考。

Puer Aeternus (永恒少年) 是心理学家 Carl Jung 创造的一个术语，指的是永恒的男孩或彼得潘综合症，一种代表渴望冒险和拒绝成长的心理，是纯真和叛逆的象征，也是对意义的追求。

对我来说，我侄子想象中的怪物代表着未知、成长过程中的危险和不确定性，以及对离开童年舒适和安全的恐惧。这也让我反思自己的经历，以及我如何利用身临其境的白日梦来逃避和安慰我的日常生活。基于这些，我在我的绘画系列中创造了一对奇怪的“好朋友”，一个马脸的小男孩和一匹男孩脸的马，在精神上相互暗示。他们在森林、郊区、城镇和城市中游荡，遇到了其他怪物。他们快乐而孤独。

有时人们执着于青春的幻想，希望永远是少年，却忽略了它真正的危险，以及必然付出的代价。这可能是时代的陷阱，也可能只是危言耸听。谁知道？至少，“怪物”提供了一种可能性，即个人如何使用逃避现实和幻想来应对生活的复杂性，以及更深入地了解他们的自我意识。