Shengjie Qu

"This project is to explore the world inside the mural. In the world, creatures are busy making Rice Dumplings and cute sweet desserts and doing dragon boat racing for the Dragon Boat Festival. I felt that the best way to express the idea of the human culture built alongside nature is through human agriculture. So the story will happen in the setting of bamboo forest, farming field, and then transfer to the kitchen; illustrating the process of Chinese agriculture: farming, exploring nature (natural ingredients), and food making. The project portrays the story of the Dragon Boat Festival in my interpretation using creatures and scenes I created. The story expresses the joy of food making and involves cultural practices during the Dragon Boat Festival. Creatures are united and working together to make effort and achievement to perform the festival activities. "

This project is to explore the world inside the mural. In the world, creatures are busy making Rice Dumplings and cute sweet desserts and doing dragon boat racing for the Dragon Boat Festival.

This project is to explore the world inside the mural. In the world, creatures are busy making Rice Dumplings and cute sweet desserts and doing dragon boat racing for the Dragon Boat Festival.

Sailor Girls & Peachy Buns - Sailor Girls are motors for the dragon boat, their only job is to make the dragon boat keep moving. Peachy Buns are friends with Sailor Girls, they help to carry supplies for making rice dumplings.

The Lady - The Lady just finished cooking the sweet paste. She left the sweet paste and bamboo leaves behind her chair, and moving on to prepare some traditional desserts.

The Pond Owner - The woman in purple is the owner of the fish pond and a friend of the Peachy Bun. She always wears a floral dress and she loves the color red. Her daily routine is to watch fishes swim in the pond and make sure they are healthy.

The Spirit of Lotus & Flying Souls - The long-eared creature is the spirit of lotus. The spirit always carries a lotus flower light wherever it goes. The spirit’s duty is to protect flying souls from getting lost on their way to visit the living girl.

The Living Girl - She is a farm girl working at the hot side of the kitchen. Her job is to make sure that every cooking ingredient is washed clean and ready to use.