How do you find a theme for an artwork? Where do you get your inspirations?

There are two aspects. First, there is the influence of education. Another one comes from my personal experience. I received Chinese schooling from middle school, through high school, to university. In this process, I did not learn things not in an active way, but in a passive way. I think this affects my practice of art the most. Let me give you some examples. Think of artists in China, such as Yimou Zhang, Bin Xu, poets, and other famous artists. According to what I have read about them, they travelled to the United States in the 1970s and 1980s maybe because of the domestic circumstances. They then grew up where they have settled. What we understand now is that they have succeeded, both in academics and publicity. Think of artists overseas, such as Picasso, Mondrian, and other artists. They lived in the same era, and their lives may have been the same as
our lives. There might have been a dispute over them either in technical perspective or on some of their artworks. However, after a hundred years, they have succeeded and become a grandmaster. Looking at my life, I am much influenced by the education I received. The other aspect comes from me. We cannot say we grow together in the same environment and become artists, maybe either labourer or farmer. Artists must have a unique character or personality. Devoid of this distinctive personality, one cannot become a good artist. Even
with the supportive circumstances, one cannot become a master artist. Therefore, based on what I have absorbed from my education and how I grew up in the society, I wanted to express my thoughts in my artworks. At the same time, I throw away anything that is unrelated to my artworks and those I do not consider. I think about and influenced by these two aspects.