qí shí wǒ cóng nián kāi shǐ zhè sān nián

其实我从2017年（开始）这三年

In the past three years since 2017

zài huà guān yú nǚ xìng tí cái de huì huà

在画关于女性题材的绘画

I’ve been painting about women

xiǎng xù shù nǚ xìng zài shè huì shēng huó zhōng de yī xiē kùn jìng jiū jié

想叙述女性在社会生活中的壹些困境纠结

I want to tell women’s dilemmas and entanglements in the society

wǒ shēng zài chéng dōu

我生在成都

I was born in Chengdu

cóng xiǎo jiù shì zài fù qīn de huà àn biān zhè yàng zhǎng dà

从小就是在父亲的画案边这样长大

I grew up beside my father’s painting desk

liǎng suì bàn

两岁半

When I was two and a half

nà shí hòu nà zhāng huà yǐ jīng ná qù cān jiā yī gè zhǎn lǎn

那时候那张画已经拿去参加壹个展览

My painting was shown in an exhibition

xiǎo shí hòu dé tài duō jiǎng yǐ jīng yàn fán le

小时候得太多奖已经厌烦了

I received so many awards that I got tired

dào le kǎo dà xué zài tiān jīn nán kāi dà xué

到了考大学，在天津南开大学

I was enrolled by Nankai University in Tianjin

yǐ hòu wǒ jiù dào běi jīng gōng zuò le

以后我就到北京工作了

Then I started my career in Beijing

nián xià tiān yǐ hòu wǒ jì dé hěn qīng chǔ

2000年夏天以后，我记得很清楚

I remember clearly that after the summer of 2000

wǒ bà bà lái kàn wǒ tā liú xià yī běn huà cè

我爸爸来看我，他留下壹本画册

My father came to see me and left me a picture book

shì zhào zhī qiān de huā niǎo cè

是赵之谦的《花鸟册》

It was the Book of Flowers and Birds by Zhao Zhiqian

wǒ kàn de shí hòu jiù tū rán jiù xiǎng lín mó qǐ lái

我看的时候，就突然就想临摹起来

When I read it, suddenly I wanted to copy the paintings

wǒ huà le yī kē bái cài

我画了壹颗白菜

I drew a cabbage

shì wǒ shēng mìng lǐ zuì zhòng yào de yī zhāng huà

是我生命里最重要的壹张画

That is the most important painting in my life

cóng cǐ yī gè xì liè yī gè xì liè dì zuò xià qù

从此壹个系列壹个系列地做下去

I’ve been creating one series after another since then

wǒ jué dé wǒ bù shì gè shū běn yì yì shàng de nǚ quán

我觉得我不是个书本意义上的“女权”

I don’t think I’m a ‘feminist’ as described in books

dàn shì wǒ fā xiàn de què xū yào fā shēng

但是我发现的确需要发声

But I do realize that I need to speak out

zuò wèi nǚ xìng xī wàng dà jiā néng gòu

作为女性，希望大家能够

As a woman

tōng guò wǒ de zuò pǐn chǎn shēng yī zhǒng gòng qíng

通过我的作品产生壹种共情

I wish people to develop empathy with my works

nián jiù zài zuò zhǐ sù

2007年就在做纸塑

I began making paper sculptures in 2007

hěn ǒu rán jiù jiǎn le liǎng gè mó tè

很偶然就捡了两个模特

Occasionally I brought two models back home

tū rán fā xiàn kě yǐ bǎ xuān zhǐ yī céng céng dì hú zài shàng miàn

突然发现可以把宣纸壹层层地糊在上面

All of a sudden I found I could paste layers of xuan paper on it

bào zhù mó tè lái huà huà

抱著模特来画画

And hold it to paint

huà wán le yǐ hòu jiù huì xiàng rén pí yī yàng bǎ tā men bō xià lái

画完了以后就会像人皮壹样把它们剥下来

After finishing the painting, I could just remove the paper, like peeling off skin

zì rán dì jiù xíng chéng le yī gè hěn jiān yìng de yìng ké

自然地就形成了壹个很坚硬的硬壳

And the paper would naturally form a hard shell

měi gè zhè zhǒng nǚ xìng shēn tǐ shàng huà de tú àn

每个这种女性身体上画的图案

Such patterns on the woman bodies

yě shì yī gè nǚ xìng wèi zhǔ jiǎo

也是壹个女性为主角

They are also female-centered

tā lái miàn duì zhè xiē shì qíng

她来面对这些事情

It is she who faces the situations

wǒ jiù zài zhè lǐ xì liè

《我就在这里》系列

In the series Hi-Ne-Ni

wǒ bǎ tā men hòu bèi dōu dǎ dé gèng kāi le

我把她们后背都打得更开了

I opened the backs of the models, like they have wings

xiàng zhǎng chū chì bǎng lái yī yàng gèng cán quē le

像长出翅膀来壹样，更残缺了

They look more incomplete

gù shì xīn biān yùn niàng le dà gài sān nián bàn zuǒ yòu

《故事新编》酝酿了大概三年半左右

I spent about three and a half years preparing for Old Stories Retold

wǒ zài nián chū jiù kàn dào le

我在2017年初就看到了

I read a book in the beginning of 2017

míng dài lǚ kūn xiě de yī běn shū jiào guī fàn

明代吕坤写的壹本书叫《闺范》

It was called Guifan (models of women) by Lv Kun in the Ming Dynasty

nǚ xìng yào bù jiù ná zhù dāo yào bù gē zì jǐ

女性要不就拿著刀，要不割自己

The women were holding a knife or cutting themselves

zhè xiē chā tú dōu ràng wǒ fēi cháng zhèn jīng

这些插图都让我非常震惊

The illustrations shocked me

wèi shén me nǚ xìng huì yǐ xī shēng zì jǐ lái zuò zhè xiē shì qíng

为什么女性会以牺牲自己，来做这些事情

Why would those women accomplish the tasks by sacrificing themselves

ér qiě bèi rèn wèi shì kǎi mó

而且被认为是楷模？

And they were considered as models

yīn wèi jī yā le tài jiǔ de qíng xù

因为积压了太久的情绪

I was depressed for too long

wǒ yī gǔ zuò qì dì zhǎo le yī zhāng

（我）壹鼓作气地找了壹张

I found a piece of paper

mǐ zhǎng de liǎng mǐ kuān de zhǐ

50米长的两米宽的纸

Which was 50m long and 2m wide

bù dào liǎng gè yuè zuò yī gè zhǎng zhǎng de juǎn zhóu

不到两个月，做壹个长长的卷轴

I painted the long scroll within two months

yī gè jiē yī gè huà

壹个接壹个画

I just kept painting, one figure after another

měi gè rén dōu huà de bǐ zhēn rén hái dà

每个人都画的比真人还大

And each figure was painted bigger than a real person

yòng wán quán hēi bái de shuǐ mò de bàn fǎ

用完全黑白的水墨的办法

They were all black and white

xiàng yī gè jīng tàn hào yī yàng

像壹个惊叹号壹样

Like an exclamation mark

huà qī gè yè wǎn yě hěn shén qí

画《七个夜晚》也很神奇

The process of creating Seven Nights is also amazing

yīn wèi zhè sān nián dōu zài chù lǐ yī xiē sī rén de shì qíng

因为这三年都在处理壹些私人的事情

I’ve been dealing with some personal matters for the past three years

gēn yǐ qián de shēng huó zhuàng tài bù tài yī yàng le

跟以前的生活状态不太壹样了

My life has changed

wǒ jiù huì zuò hěn duō mèng

我就会做很多梦

And I dream a lot

jiù yǐ mèng wèi zhǔ xiàn

就以梦为主线

So I take dream as the theme

ān chā hěn duō nǚ xìng de xiǎo rén wù

安插很多女性的小人物

And I also paint many female minor characters

yǒu yī xiē guǐ guǐ suì suì de dòng zuò

有壹些鬼鬼祟祟的动作

Some of them are sneaking

zài yuàn luò lǐ fā shēng

在院落里发生

Some scenes are set in yards

tā yě xǔ yǒu jiū jié

她也许有纠结

She might be struggling inside

yě xǔ yǒu kǔ nǎo yě xǔ yào zì qiáng huò zhě shěn sī

也许有苦恼，也许要自强或者沈思

She is probably troubled, or she tries to become stronger, or she is meditating

mèng zhōng rén xì liè

《梦中人》系列

Guiding Stars

yuán yú cài jiǔ dí gěi wǒ gè zhōng guó nǚ guǐ de gù shì

（源于）蔡九迪给我9个中国女鬼的故事

The series originates from the tales of 9 Chinese woman ghosts given to me by Cai Jiudi

dà bù fēn lái zì liáo zhāi

大部分来自《聊斋》

And most of them are from Liaozhai

wǒ shì chūn jié de dà nián chū yī kāi shǐ huà de

我是春节的大年初壹开始画的

I began painting on the first day of the first lunar month

dāng shí zhèng hǎo wǔ hàn bào fā fèi yán de yì qíng

当时正好武汉爆发肺炎的疫情

And the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan started

jiù yī zhí huà dào yuè fèn

就壹直画到4月份

I continued painting until April

pèi shàng xī fāng de

配上西方的

I wrote some words by western female authors

jī běn shàng shì qù shì de zhè xiē nǚ xìng zuò jiā de wén zì

基本上是去世的这些女性作家的文字

Most of them have passed away

cí wéi tǎ yé wá de xìn

茨维塔耶娃的信

The letter from Marina Tsvetayeva

yǒu sū shān sāng tǎ gé de xìn

有苏珊·桑塔格的信

The letter from Susan Sontag

qí shí yì shù jiā

其实艺术家

In fact for an artist

suǒ yǒu de xì jié jué dìng le nǐ yī gè zuò pǐn de hǎo huài

所有的细节决定了妳壹个作品的好坏

All the details decide the quality of your work

xiàn yǔ xiàn zhī jiān bǐ yǔ bǐ zhī jiān yào yǒu hū xī

线与线之间、笔与笔之间，要有呼吸

There has to be breaths between lines and brushes

wǒ bù tài xiāng xìn suǒ wèi líng gǎn

我不太相信所谓灵感

I don’t believe in the so-called inspiration

zuì zhòng yào de jiù shì nǐ zài bǎo chí zuò

最重要的就是妳在保持做

What’s important is your perseverance

nǐ méi yǒu zhōng duàn tā

妳没有中断它

You don’t quit

wǒ xiàn zài suì le

我现在45岁了

I’m 45 now

wǒ jué dé wǒ yǒu chù nǚ zuò de yī zhǒng jié pǐ

我觉得我有处女座的壹种洁癖

I think I’m quite demanding as a virgo

wǒ zài hū de shì nǐ miàn duì yī zhāng zhǐ de chéng yì

我在乎的是妳面对壹张纸的诚意

What I care is the sincerity in front of a piece of paper

chéng kěn dì jiǎng shù nǐ de dōng xī de shí hòu

诚恳地讲述妳的东西的时候

Only when you tell your story honestly

kàn de rén cái huì gǎn shòu dào nǐ de gǎn qíng

看的人才会感受到妳的感情

The audience would feel your emotions

cái huì gēn nǐ chǎn shēng gòng qíng

才会跟妳产生共情

And develop empathy with you