Animation title: Three Stages towards Loyalty
Stage 1: Constraint
Stage 2: Release
Stage 3: Freedom
3'13

Artist statement:
The word "loyalty" contains something heavy. Loyalty is not a matter of human nature, and it needs a process of penance, similar to some religions. It requires a lot of abstention, which may be cruel and even entail self-sacrifice. In a popular Chinese saying, 'it is necessary to fully align "self" to "the bigger self" and a "great goal" before arriving at a pure and flawless loyalty'.

Constraint:
In the first image, the figure is taking an oath to a Chinese character "忍"(Forbearance). The character "忍", which has been in existence since the very beginning of the formation of Chinese traditional personality, is of great importance in the Chinese culture. Thus, "忍" has a long history and various explanations, with the main meaning of "forbearance and self-restraint". However, according to its structure: the upper part being the Chinese character "刃" (blade) and the lower part being "心" (heart)—having a knife held over the heart, it gives another concept of keeping stock-still to protect one's own heart from being hurt.

The title of the first image is Constraint, which describes on the one side, the figure's spiritual state, and on the other side, the figure's physical state - i.e. the sexual function - because in Chinese language, "constraint" means rigidity and durability.

The header translates as: ……

Release:
The second image – titled, Release conveys its connotation in a straightforward and vulgar way. Because sex is the most primal instinct in human nature, and it's the most selfish, thus in order to realise an absolute "loyalty", making such a clean break is really a difficult choice.

The header translates as: ……

Freedom:
In the third image, Freedom, the figure almost achieves the realm of "Ode to Joy" in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - ie perfect harmony between the mood and the goal (symbolized by the pigeon flying upward).

The header translates as: ……

In this work, I combined line drawing with calligraphy, with the view to adding some literary style of Chinese traditional culture.

The eternal gap between reality and the ideal.