The connection between the ancient Chinese idiom and its accompanying narrative, hong yan bo ming (Over the greatest beauty, hangs the greatest ruin.) and the theoretical writings on ruins and fragmentation by the social and art critic Wu Hang, presented as a foundational concept for my thinking and for the development of my paintings.  Wu Hang identifies ruins and fragmentation as “signifiers of a never-ending destruction and construction” within the Chinese psyche as well as Chinese society.  Investigating that psyche through my paintings has  become a meaningful and interpretive way to explore how this concept manifests itself within Chinese consciousness, and how it is reflected in Chinese culture, both historically and contemporaneously.