How are concepts like inside/outside, native/foreigner boundaries, borders and cultural differences represented in the visual medium of painting?

I began my Project Proposal on 3rd October, 09, which began from Liverpool Station, the Swiss Re-building. The reason I choosing Swiss Re-building was that I found the reflections of building in the glass of Swiss Rebuilding look different as normal reflections. They look more abstract. And I compared them with some other normal building. There are hundreds of glass outside of them, but they look different. They are simpler and realistic, without any kind of changing.

Reflections from different kinds of glass could be totally different. Take the window of Tate Britain for example, the light reflections looked like brushes with oil colours, very abstract. However, they look very smooth.

After the collection of different kind of reflection, I tried to cut some pieces of paper to make mini models which represented the Swiss Re-building, and see if there were any abstract element coming up when I shape it in different ways. After finishing that I put an orange inside to show it is 3-Demension.

On 9st October, another inspiration came from a piece of artwork we saw on exhibition. The light on the metal reflects differently, like ice, which is very abstract because of its sharp and thin shape.

Colour on branches of trees was another example that how the abstract images reflected in realistic objects. Branches were mixed with brown, dark yellow, green and blue. You can hardly recognize it as a part of branch just by viewing the different shaped colours.

All the images refer to the concepts like inside/outside, native/foreigner boundaries, borders and cultural differences. As a new foreigner coming from Asia, British culture seems quite different from my home country. Sometimes every person is doing the same thing in certain public occasion, such as driving in the street, however, it seems that there are still some simple differences in Asian eyes.

It demonstrates a sensation like reflection from glass and water. Through a transparent medium, same, but different activities can be reflected to each side of the medium. For example, compared with Chinese, when taking the tube, native British use every second reading, while Chinese do not. Natives and foreigners share same space, using same materials in same time, however, in different ways, between an invisible boundary.

My paintings are going to represent the boundaries and borders of native and foreign cultural differences. The series is a process of the viewing of native culture from foreign eyes. First of all, the whole native culture is like a mysterious reflection of my own culture in some ways, however, not exactly the same. Then, I want to find the boundaries between the two cultures, so the shape of hand is a symbol of seeking, and the light green background represents the fascinating culture in front of me. Next, like wiping out the steam on the mirror after a hot-water shower, the comprehension for the native culture is becoming clearer as time goes by.

The series is not complete. The final piece should be the one of a clearer view of the native culture than the current piece.