The painting inspired by a poem or vice versa
The Dream of a Butterfly
Acrylic, Leaf on Canvas
30” x 40”
2015
Corcoran Gallery of Art 2015
胡蝶之夢 荘子
昔者荘周夢為胡蝶。栩栩然胡蝶也。
自喩適志与。不知周也。俄然覚、則蘧蘧然周也。
不知、周之夢為胡蝶与、胡蝶之夢為周与。
周与胡蝶、則必有分矣。此之謂物化。
The Dream of a Butterfly Zhuangzi
Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly.
I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuangzi. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again.
Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.
Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things. (As translated by Lin Yutang)