There is a little child hiding inside of you. It may in fact be the real you; or it may be the you which somehow got forgotten.
We all live inside of our own bodies as little children. And as little children, we learn to fit in our own images as grown-ups. We learn to speak in the ways adults speak, and look at things from adults' points of view until we finally become grown-ups – at the expense of our innocence and purity. We may occasionally find childlike expressions on an adult's face, or vice versa.
I try to visualize those moments childlike innocence or genuine emotions. Some of the children in my painting are in fact adults in disguise, and I just want to capture traces of their childlike innocence and honesty. Like the password to a secret world, these looks of sadness, or expressions of hope and happiness, or random acts of naughtiness take us all back to our own childhood days filled with endless wonder and fantasy.
I want to dedicate this series of paintings to our shared childhood memories. I want to dedicate them to all of us, who were once children in school uniforms, happily saluting the national flag and singing the anthem every morning.(Lo Chiao-ling)