Artworks

The Chinese calligraphy in this artwork is inspired by the messages from the "Ode to Sport" by Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games: “Sport, pleasure of the Gods, essence of life. You are Beauty, Justice, Audacity, Honour, Joy, Progress and Peace. Sport, you are Fecundity, a fertile ground for cultivating human beings!”

As a diver, I have often been described as someone who “dives like a fish”. Five fish represent athletes from five continents who participate in both the Olympic Summer and Winter Games. Water and ice are linked, as ice is water in the summer, while water is ice in the winter. Meanwhile, the painting also signals the nexus of the Summer and Winter Olympics, as Beijing is the only city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Games. This painting expresses my happiness that the Winter Olympics are coming to Beijing. The Chinese characters in the painting mean: “Happy fish swimming in the water across five colourful continents”.

The artwork has five elements consisting of five separate fluid propylene paintings with Chinese traditional characters. The colours of the five rings of the Olympic logo inspire the colour palette: black stands for Justice, blue for Beauty, yellow for Harmony, red for Auspiciousness and green for Sustainability. Chinese traditional characters represented in the Chinese calligraphy and the colours of the five Olympic rings are combined to convey the spirit and value of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.