The last time I was in Kew was in 2020, I wonder if the creatures here remember me. The blue butterfly recovers its lost spring here, when all is lost all is found.

I spent the afternoon sketching by the Neptune Fountain, using syringe pens and watercolours, and trying petroglyphs, which are more intense than watercolours. I had people passing by complimenting me on my paintings and asking to take photos, which made it quite rewarding.

It was a nice day in Bologna and the streets were full of artfully dressed pedestrians.

My friend and I were quietly discerning which ones were possible illustrators 😀

Brilliant shops, buildings and galleries.

Spending an afternoon at the Uffizi Gallery was like seeing the whole of the Renaissance. Botticelli, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Tiziano – I was thrilled to see the paintings I grew up reading about in books right in front of my eyes.In the evening I climbed with the night view of Florence, as if I were in the middle of a chapter of the Chinese poet Xu Zhimo’s “One Night in Florence”, where the world is peaceful and beautiful, with only blue and gold.

The sun was shining when I was sketching at The Trevi Fountain, during which people were coming and going. People were giggling, people were proposing, people were asking if I and the painting could be photographed. I threw 2 coins backwards with my eyes closed and they both fell into the wishing pool, so that means I will be back in Rome again.

In the Kröller-Müller Museum I saw a never-before-seen collection of quality art, with art works by Picasso, Gauguin, Monet and a large number of Van Gogh’s works. The museum presents the collection in different narrative ways, including interactive panels and large scale installations, which are very educational.

From the Colosseum, the Pantheon to the Piazza Venezia, the thick history of ancient Roman architecture and Byzantine style made me marvel at the majesty of the buildings of the time. Everywhere I look, it looks like a classical painting, and it turns out that the scenes in the painting are real. It is no wonder why Rome was the centre of Renaissance.

BCBF brings together the best picture books and publishers from all over the world, and the wealth of content has inspired me as I have just finished writing an article. From the layout of the exhibition hall, the presentation of the picture books, to the process of this publishing industry and the evaluation criteria shared by the experts, I gained a huge amount of knowledge that I did not know before.

I have recorded the names of many of the illustrators in this exhibition and intend to delve deeper into the work. Their work or style has in some way inspired the creation of my current butterfly project. In particular, some of the books on craft and fabric making, such as the work of Brazilian artist FLÁVIA BOMFIM, coincide with my concept of sewing patterns on dresses.

In MAMbo, I saw many contemporary and experimental artworks, including some documentary, video and installation of classic artworks. They were inspiring to the concepts of textiles and costume and performance art in relation to my work. Also, Bologna, as the home of Morandi, contains a large collection of Morandi’s work, from his student days through to his later years, which made the trip incredibly worthwhile for me.

It was a pleasure to see the illustrator’s original works, as well as their creative process, drafts, colour trials and revisions.All the creations that seemed to be clean and on point and the harmonious and comfortable colours were born from repeated practice and tweaking, perhaps that is how good illustrators emerge. I also saw many beautiful and small collections of butterflies and interesting ceramic pieces that gave me inspiration about objects.

I was inspired by the illustrations in Bologna, which led me to explore a series of new materials upon my return to London. My theme is based on the butterfly section of the U9 ‘proposition’, exploring figurative expressions of words and poetry.I experimented with mixed materials such as acrylic, plaster, wire and even used fruit to make the creative process itself a poetic expression.

Stage Summary:
My research question in Unit 9 was to use the butterfly as a medium to explore the pains and gains of growing up in conjunction with autobiographical methods as a form of the art therapy. My final solution was to use autotheory and to record them in the form of which Maggie Nelson called propositions. I select some of the more figurative parts of the color blue and the butterfly based on the U9 propositions, trying to explore how to take the autotheory and poetic expression out of the written word and into images, sounds and performance art. At this stage, I have been working on the creation of paintings, the collection of sounds and the preparation of performance art, and am exploring the best form in which they can be combined, like a non-medical art therapy experiment, based on autotheory.

Sounds collection from Singing Bowl Meditation & other Musical instruments of a healing nature.