Inspired by a princess

Li Wei was born in the 1970s, when Chinese people lived a barren cultural life.

There were two things that fascinated him most against that gray background - the colorful figurines made of sticky rice and the local opera that always started at sunset.

One day Li stole his father's money to buy a rice opera figurine, a Chinese princess with fancy plumes attached to her head. He hid it in the reeds behind his house but he couldn't find it a few days later. The princess became a dream he has since been pursuing with his brushes.