Blue

Name: Blue

Size: 60cm*80cm

(Painted by Tu Lin in 2020 in Munich)

“I saw the endless cold desert of snow in the darkness of the night”; “I saw the depthless oceans of the night”; “I saw the infinite universe beyond the atmosphere”; “I saw the terrible darkness”; “I saw sparkling bits of bright light”; “I saw loneliness” ...... Every time I will ask the person who is looking at this painting a question, “what do you see in this painting?” It's exciting to me that different people see different things in this painting. What they see is not what I see, and it's not what I intended when i paint it. So the story of this painting was in 2020. It had been a year since I left China and came to Munich, Germany to do my Master study. At that time, I had taken nine German exams in oder to go to university and failed every one of them. I was angry and sad and helpless. You know, the decision to leave home and come to a foreign country to pursue dreams was a brave one, but the process was torturous. Nine failed exams made me depressed and discouraged. I didn't know what to do with my life. I was like lying in the clouds during the day and drowning in water at night. I couldn't see and I couldn't hear. Painting is the only and the best way to let my anger and sadness out. So I created this painting. After I finished this painting, I stared at it for a long time, I start to see more in the painting, and I realized that the more I looked at it the calmer and more composed I became. The painting was healing my emotions. Later on, I started to take my 10th German exam with the mindset of giving up, and this time I succeeded.

I don't know if your emotions change when you stare at this painting silently, but I love staring at it now. Whenever I'm confused, sad, lonely or overly proud, I stare at it and talk to it and it talk to me too. In this painting I see myself carrying a duffel bag and holding a stick and walking to the direction of the little lights.

So, what do you see in this painting?

(Written by Tu Lin)