Artist uses nature to ease pain and stress

She puts on a different blue gown made of 300 biodegradable bags in another performance work titled H2O.

She displayed the work in Venice in June. Each bag is shaped like a person. The dress' tail is about 40 meters long.

She says the gown feels both fragile and weightless once it's inflated, indicating a balance between humans and nature.

"A person comes into this world and leaves as lightly as a drop of water falling from the universe," she says.

The theme of love highlights Kong's oil paintings. She expresses fear and doubt, too.

A large-eyed girl, who looks like her, appears in many of her works, which boast a vivid palette and surreal scenes. Her eyes open wide to show innocence. Her outstretched arms seem ready to explore the world. But her twisted body suggests hesitation caused by the fear of getting hurt.

Kong was a criminal lawyer decades before she turned to painting in 2000.

Her experience has left many emotional scars, she says.

In 2000, the death of her mother added to her depression. She quit law and isolated herself from the outside world, she says, until one day, she bought painting supplies and tried to paint something to kill the time.

She says she felt her sadness and anxieties ease as she painted. She also started to feel stronger and joyful.

Since then, she has been painting feverishly as a salvation from feeling helpless. She also creates installations, poems and performance art.