Winter was for hibernation—not to hide from the cold but from the pollution. Masks were a fashion statement. Growing up in Beijing, I watched the sky slowly lose its colors. Over time, the air quality changed the way we lived. As an artist, my work becomes a voice that speaks to the experiences of going from one environment to another. My work represent my fluency as an expressionist—a universal language that requires no words. I want the audience to be inspired, angered, repulsed, but nonetheless evoked. Dichotomy is at the heart of many of my work. What is my challenge? I aim to call attention to the effects of pollution and transform a prevailing sense of hopelessness to hope. My pieces are about hope and about the possibilities.