ARTWORK COMMENTARY: CHANG'E

Finished: March 2022

Dimensions: 9x12

This piece was for my AP Art class. My sustained investigation was Chinese Mythology. This piece is based off the folktale of Chang'e, a popular story during the Mid-Autumn festival. There are different iterations, but the general story goes that imperial archer Hou Yi and Chang'e fell in love. Hou Yi shoots down the scorching suns that was burning the earth, and was given a Potion of Immortality as a thanks. Since he didn't want to part ways with his love, he never took it. One day, one of Hou Yi's students tries to steal the potion, and Chang'e drinks it in order to keep it from him. Thus, she floated to the moon, never to be reunited with her love.

Some say that she drank the potion because she wanted to be immortal and it wasn't an accident at all. For me, I like to think that she mistakenly drank it trying to keep it from Hou Yi's student. In some accounts, Hou Yi points an arrow towards Chang'e as she floats away but doesn't end up shooting. That is the angle I took with this drawing. The Jade Rabbit on the moon is also featured, as it was the one that made the Potion.