The White Snake Escapes and Hides Itself

One of Wu Jian’an’s core methodologies for his artistic creations is to find a connection between the individual spiritual world and current social problems from the local cultural traditions. Subsequently, the artist converts the connection into unique, vibrant visual art works with rich connotations through experimental use of numerous artistic materials and languages.

“Tale of the Green Herring” is the culmination of Wu’s study on several different literary versions of “The Legend of the White Snake”. It is a collage that consists of seven large frames of color waxed paper cuts with a connected plot line that constitutes a prequel of the famed story. It is an attempt at the re-creation of a classic tale by injecting current cultural imagination.

The last frame is entitled “The White Snake Escapes and Hides Itself”. By a stroke of extraordinary fate, the giant snake that witnessed the miserable end of the green herring, became the leading character in “The Legend of the White Snake”–Bai Suzhen. It being the sole eyewitness in the murder,“Tale of the Green Herring”, the white snake became the target of pursuit, thus laying the foundation for the sad ending in “The Legend of the White Snake”…