Made In Berlin could be referring to the smiles from Berlin, or the encounter in Berlin.
Based on the general impression of the cold-laying back German personality, I had an idea of researching for the positivity in the city, looking for someway to represent the friendly experience in Berlin.
On the other hand, three months of stay in the residency could be long enough to visit the city as a tourist, but can be short if one wishes to integrate the local life. I recalled there was a TV program on Discovery Channel: Lonely planet 6 degrees(一個城市六個朋友). The theory behind the show was, every social network in one city could start with 6 people, everybody can reach each other through no more than 6 friends. Thus I decided to paint portraits of people I encounter during my residency in Berlin, and see how it appears until the end.
The people participated in my project are my “ 6 friends” in the urban. They are people whom we met either by introduction or random encounters, but all helped me or created a friendship in some way. By painting a portrait for them, I'll meet these people again in the exhibition, it will be interesting to see those people whom I recognized as “nice people” in the project meeting each other, and could make another new connection; as a result, I am very keen to see art as a way that makes a difference, and I believe this project could contribute this idea.