Peter Lui

My oil painting explores the theme of solitude, depicting a protagonist who, having lost both arms, symbolizes profound loneliness and anguish. His grim expression gazes skyward, seemingly revealing countless resentments and complaints to the heavens. Amidst the devastation caused by war, with humans mercilessly slaughtering each other, two colossal insect destroyers loom in the distant background, incinerating human cities as if exterminating pests. Adjacent to the central figure, a swarm of ants crawls, emphasizing that even insects can unite to overcome adversity, unlike humans who, driven by greed and selfishness, engage in mutual destruction.

Realizing this harsh truth, the protagonist decides to renounce harming his own kind and turns his gaze towards the heavens. At the bottom of the painting lies a ceramic heart, belonging to the protagonist, underscoring that despite his grim exterior and accumulated scars, he maintains an intact and pure heart. The artwork also seeks to convey the impending apocalypse brought about by global changes-disasters, wars, plagues, and famine-all preventable through human effort. I believe that by courageously expressing the undesirable aspects of humanity, we can avert the impending doomsday.

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Peter Lui is a Hong Kong born artist practicing in acrylic and oil paint. Inspired by surrealist ideologies, he conducts continuous self examinations to explore himself and his surrounding world.