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Market trader in Dali 大理商贩

Scotland_edited_edited.jpg

2016

24cms (W) x 34cms (H)

Oil on Panel

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One of the first places I visited in China was the south western region called 'Yunnan'. It's a lush, traditional region that is the source of a lot of China's fruit, vegetables, rice, tea, coffee, flowers and vegetable by-products like cooking oils. There are lots of fascinating contrasts and comparisions between some of China's regions, which I could discuss at length, but in this I wanted to capture the feel of a rural market, with mounds of vegetables thrown onto trestle tables, next to tables full of jars of things I couldn't at the time identify, next to wooden slabs covered in butchered animals and offal. Walking between the aisles of the market were women with large wicker baskets on their backs, shovelling huge masses of produce into them, somehow managing to bear the whole weight of their weekly shop. In the background I've included some people in regional dress as in Yunnan despite not being a tourist hotspot, it's quite common to witness people walking around in brightly coloured traditional clothing.

The only other thing i'll say about this is that in certain areas and certain generations you can see that they've not had the easiest of lives, and you can detect the resilience and stoicism as they go about their daily ordinary tasks.

我在中国最早去过的地方之一就是西南地区的“云南”。这是一个郁郁葱葱的传统地区,是中国许多水果,蔬菜,大米,茶,咖啡,花卉和蔬菜副产品(如食用油)的产地。中国的地域差异非常有趣,可以画和那篇幅来讨论。但在这幅画里,我想刻画农村市集印象。一堆堆蔬菜摆在长条摊位上,边上桌子上摆满了罐装的东西,当时我都认不出里面装的是什么,旁边木案板上堆着杀好的家禽和内脏。集市过道有很多背着大柳条筐的妇女,她们把各种东西塞在背上的篓子里,几乎是一整周的所有生活需要。在这幅画的背景里,是很多穿着当地特色民族服装的人,i 因为在云南,即使不是旅游景点,也能经常看到人们穿着鲜艳的传统服装走来走去。

关于这幅画,我想说的唯一另外一点是,在某些地区和某些世代,你会发现他们的生活并不轻松,但可以看到的是他们在日常生活中表现出的韧性和坚忍。

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