My Family

作品賞析

Artist Lai Wei-Yu’s works may superficially seem to have a slightly absurd and humorous tone, but underneath they conceal complex emotions such as inner anxiety, anger, loneliness, and panic. For him, the “middle-aged man” symbolizes power in a patriarchal society. The inspiration for My Family comes from his childhood failure in attempting to rescue a bunch of stray dogs. The painting shows an imagined revenge: a middle-aged man being attacked by eight dogs. His body is covered with bruises, and blood flows from his wounds. He has fallen awkwardly on the grass, while the dog lying on the man’s belly looks out toward the viewer with cold eyes. The sloping grassy ground increases the sense of instability in the picture. Just as we focus on the impact of the attack, one sees bright candy-like lines rising with the wind, which at first seems incongruously cheerful. Lai Wei-Yu’s works are thought-provoking due to the complex emotions they evoke from scenes where violence is mixed with playfulness, and pain is mixed with joy.