Inspired by the words of famous Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, that stated, “the seed is an household object but at the same time it is a revolutionary symbol”- an artist based in Shanghai decided to create her portrait with 20,000 sunflower seeds.
Hong Yi (nicknamed Red) is a Malaysian born artist currently residing in Shanghai. She was widely known for using unusual media to create her artwork and her latest masterpiece of Ai Weiwei is no exception.
Red sprinkled the seeds on a white canvas and creates the portrait of Ai, seed by seed. Though this is a painstaking process, she pays attention to the details when arranging Ai’s features, as she has done for her previous art pieces, including the art piece that uses 20,000 teabags to create a portrait of a tea maker.
Red says that this project is created to pay homage to Ai who is “forever questioning and asking for accountability from establishments through his art”.
She told My Modern Met, via email, that she hopes “this piece encourages people to have the bravery and courage to think and see clearly, and to protect the freedom of expression.”
Her previous artworks include portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi, made with 2000 dyed carnations, and a portrait of Jay Chou using with coffee cup stains.
