Walk the fish
2026
50X80cm
Oil on canvas
Urban legends refer to strange, eerie, or mysterious narratives circulating in contemporary society. They typically unfold in urban settings and carry distinctly modern elements, setting them apart from traditional folklore. The study of urban legends spans anthropology, sociology, psychology, and literature. These stories spread by word of mouth or online, continually reshaped as they circulate. Despite varying details, many share a common emotional core: fear of unknown creatures, environmental pollution, racial prejudice, or rapid social change. They reveal how collective anxiety spreads through imagination and becomes deeply embedded in the fabric of everyday life.
After completing the Broodje Aap series, I returned to China. In the spring of 2026, I went to Chengdu for a residency, intending to seek out contemporary Chinese urban legends. Yet through the collision of Chinese and Western narratives, I came to realize that Chinese legends and Western urban legends—born of industrial urban systems—have fundamentally different cultural foundations. Wandering the city, I was drawn to ancient echoes and the spirits and monsters scattered through old texts. Though these stories are centuries old, they share the same core as contemporary urban legends: the strange tales of any era are a mirror of the collective psyche of the people who lived then.
The title The Tiger Is Not Home carries a childlike, playful humor while hinting at an absence of order and a dissolving of boundaries. In my work, I subject these classical dreams—elusive, sometimes tragically strange, sometimes absurd—to a "modern renovation." I place legendary spirits, zoo animals, and the Hairy-legs Figure together in the same frame, blurring the boundary between ancient and present, and use bright, saturated colors with a naive, childlike brushstroke to emphasize painterliness—focusing and magnifying emotions and spiritual experiences shared across generations, so that the feelings of the ancients buried deep in these narratives resonate with contemporary viewers.
都市传说，指当代社会流传的奇异、恐怖或神秘叙事。它们通常发生在城市环境中，带有鲜明的现代元素，以此与传统民间传说区别开来。这一领域涉及人类学、社会学、心理学与文学等多个学科。故事通过口口相传或网络传播，在流转中被不断重塑。尽管细节各异，许多故事却共享相似的情感内核：对未知生物、环境污染、种族偏见或急剧社会变革的恐惧。它们揭示了集体焦虑如何通过想象蔓延，并深植于日常生活的肌理之中。
在完成 Broodje Aap 系列后，我回到中国。2026年春天，我到成都驻留，本想寻找属于中国的当代都市传说，却在中西叙事的碰撞中逐渐意识到：中国的传说故事与脱胎于工业城市体系的西方都市传说，有着截然不同的文化底色。我在城市中漫游搜寻，被那些古老的回响与散落在古籍中的神鬼精怪深深吸引。这些故事虽年代久远，却与当代都市传说共享同一枚内核——每一个时代的志怪，都是那个时代人们群体心理的倒影。
标题“老虎不在家”自带童语般的戏谑趣味，同时也暗含秩序缺位、边界消融的隐喻。在创作中，我对这些虚实难辨、或离奇悲戚或荒诞不经的古典旧梦进行“现代化改造”，将传说中的精怪、动物园里的动物与毛腿人并置同框，以此模糊古与今的时代边界，并以鲜亮浓烈的色彩搭配稚拙天真的笔触凸显绘画性，聚焦并放大跨越世代、人类共通的情绪与精神体验，让叙事深处的古人心绪与当代观者形成精神共鸣。
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90x130cm
Oil on canvas
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100x120cm
Oil on canvas
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100X120cm
Oil on canvas
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60x50cm
Oil on canvas
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80x50cm
Oil on canvas
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40x50cm
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50x40cm
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90x130cm
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100x120cm
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80X100cm
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80x60cm
Oil on canvas
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80X60cm
Oil on canvas
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60X80cm
Oil on canvas
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40x50cm
Oil on canvas
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2026
40x60cm
Oil on canvas