Michael Di Rosa

Images from Michael DiRosa's residency exhibition at Lijiang Studio before Spring Festival 2018.

The culmination of the works I created came with Spring Festival, in mid February. For the exhibition, I provided a small piece of writing alongside each painting. On the night of Spring Festival, I sat with a group of friends whose language ability ranged from native speaking Mandarin, with little English, and native English with little Mandarin. Together, we translated the texts into Chinese. I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to them, the He family, Jay Brown, and the villagers in Lashihai for their support during this time.

1. The mountain is shy today 今天的山很害羞

From the moment I got picked up from the train station in Lijiang, I found inspiration to put in my paintings.  今天从火车站回到画室的路上，我得到这个灵感。

On the car ride from the train station, Jixing told me about a dream he had, in which the Snow mountain was on fire. 吉星在车上告诉了我一个他做的梦：雪山着火了。

The next morning when he told ErGe, the mountain was hidden behind clouds. 隔天早上他也跟二哥描述了这个梦，我们转头望向山的方向，山看起来像是躲在云后面一样。

ErGe, like a poet said, the mountain is shy today.  二哥很有诗意的说了一句：今天的山很害羞。

2. Moon cinnamon 月桂

Throughout Chinese cities, you can see rooftops, windows, and even abandoned bathtubs filled with plants. 在中国各地的城市旅行，到处都可以看到屋顶、窗户、甚至是填满了植栽的废弃浴缸。

Every usable space can become agriculture. 每个废置的空间都可以成为小农场。

Living in Lashihai is my first time living on a farm. My parents and grandparents and so on, used to live on a farm in Italy, before they immigrated to New York.

住在拉市海是我第一次住在农场裡。在搬到纽约之前，我的双亲、祖父母以及他们的祖先都是在义大利务农。

My grandfather in New York has always kept a garden, and this year, my grandmother passed away.我的祖父在纽约一直都保有个农场，而我的祖母今年年初刚过世。

His tomato plants were the tallest this summer of any year. 祖父种的番茄今年长得比往年都还要高。

In my family, as well as in China, I've noticed that when people migrate from rural to urban areas, they bring agriculture with them. 我的家庭跟某些其他中国的家庭，当他们从乡村迁徙到都市来的时候，同时也将农场搬移了过来。

3. The history of a family begins when a person leaves home. 当一个人离开家远行，他得以重新检视自己家庭的历史。

In migrating from place to place, as many families throughout the world have done and are doing, we participate in a process of remembering and forgetting. 从过去到现在，世界上很多的家庭在两地之间迁徙。这过程中我们不停的在累积回忆以及遗忘。

People and animals may move for opportunity, and often sacrifice for a younger generation. 人跟动物会为了更好的生存机会而迁徙，通常也会为了下一代做出牺牲。

Throughout my travels, I took notice of scenes or objects that represented altars, or that to which we offer to receive something in return. 在我旅行的经验中，我视场景或是物件为祭坛，付出的同时也有所收穫。