Lilian Kong,
Drawing

I am inspired by how patterns emerge in nature—how they seem to form randomly, but actually contain complex structures. They represent an idea that I believe applies to life also—that meaning and beauty can emerge without control or planning, while you're just going with the flow. I try to embody this in my process also. I begin a piece with no plan, just a random pen stroke. Every following pen stroke is determined by the question: What feels most natural?

I believe that we should find our own meanings in the world, instead of taking things as they are or automatically accepting the meanings that we are told. I also believe that we need to actively search for meaning, instead of waiting for it to come to us. For me, the act of creating is just a part of the search. It is a means of understanding the world - by observing and taking something in, processing it, and putting it back out into the world filtered through subjective experience.