Simple lines, bright colors and beautiful themes made every picture of Liu Tung Mui an attraction to people's eyes. However, people could not imagine those extraordinary pictures came from a disabled artist, who could not communicate with language since she was born.
Organized by the Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong, an exhibition named "Art and Life: The Art Exhibition of Liu Tung Mui" started in three shopping malls from Nov. 1. And Liu Tung Mui, an artist full of imagination and stories, would encourage her audience with her paintings and spirit.
The main subject of her exhibition was bird. Their hatching, feeding and grooming, especially the movements of caring mother birds, always attracted the artist's attention. Her painting captured every moving moment of those angles.
With the mother bird's unconditional nurture, the baby birds finally spread their wings and fly by themselves, which mirrored Tung Mui's story of growing up.
Tung Mui was going to celebrate her birthday soon. She was happy at the opening ceremony Tuesday, when she saw her pictures shining and being appreciated by their audience. But 31 years ago, when she got cerebral palsy at birth, which means she can not walk nor taking care of herself, her parents could not smile with the new baby.
Fortunately, her families and herself didn't give up. Tung Mui found her way of expression with painting. Paper, painting brush, colors and her imagination gave her a pair of wings.
She began with pencil drawing at the age of 14 and created more than one thousand artworks, including painting and calligraphy. Her talent and attitude have brought her a number of awards and honors, which finally made her one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Hong Kong 2005.
"Thank you for the support and encouragement. I'll continue my painting, because it’s my life," she said with all her energy and the movements of the whole body.
She continued, "I'll try my best to make disabled friends more interested in painting and more confident in themselves..."
The three-minute opening speech took her more than 10 minutes. But she insisted giving the speech by herself. Her audience could not understand her special language without her father's interpretation, but they were listening attentively and could not help being moved and encouraged.
(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2005)
