Red, Oil on Canvas, 300×200 cm, 2020

This work is based on works by Edward Hopper (1882–1967). Using a “realist” scene constructed by Hopper as a prototype, seven original works are intertwined with past works by the artist. The “reality of art” re-interprets the “super-arty” world. The whole mime is interspersed with the artist’s expressions concerning “arty” and “super-arty”. All of the features that appear in this work point to an exploration of “art” itself. One could say that without the artist’s misinterpretation of “art”, there would certainly be no better definition of “Super-Arty”.

Image courtesy of the Artist

In 2013, during the construction operation in Longmen county of Yangshao area, Henan, workers unexpectedly discovered a red pottery tripod (“ding”). The vortex pattern on the vessel bears similarity with the modern “hammer and sickle” motif used to represent New China. According to the C-14 dating, the tripod excavated in Longmen has a five-thousand-year history. Chinese archaeologists have named its mysterious pattern the “hammer and sickle”. On the basis of archaeology, anthropology, psychoanalysis, semantics, semiotics and mythology, Professor Yao focuses her research on the origin and development of the “hammer and sickle” motif, concerning which she proposes six hypotheses with scientific significance.