A smile from the Andes, Peru Impression Wood Print

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I saw this boy in a restaurant in Arequipa, Peru. He happily posed with his red handkerchief and big straw hat for me to take a photo. It was the expression on his face that attracted me. The dignity, the pride and especially that almost unnoticeable mysterious Mona-Lisa like smile. It may appear to you as if I painted him like some sort dignitary and indeed you are right. I tried to depict him as a symbol of Peru as seen through my Chinese eyes.

I was born in Beijing, China. Now I am living in Lima, Peru. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution(which lasted from1966-1976), my family was separated and sent to the provinces. My eldest sister was sent to a remote countryside village. She took care of the farmers as a "barefoot doctor". I borrowed medical books and copied the texts and sketched those bones, tissues, muscles and organs and sent them to her pages by pages for her to study. That was my only drawing experience during those years. Art was hence more of a must under the circumstances but by no means a desire. I had my artistic awakening six years ago but it only lasted for one year. I was lured by the Marinera Norteņa, Peru's most famous folkdance, and became drunk for...