Title: Don’t Lie to Me

Artist: Ma Ao

Medium: Ink & Color on Paper

Artwork Size: 60 × 60 cm（23.6″ × 23.6″）
Framed Size: 80 × 80 cm（31.5″ × 31.5″）

Year: 2021

Frame: Slim black aluminum frame with a wide warm-white mat featuring a recessed, stepped inner bevel (grooved mat).

Artwork ID: MBA-2026-23

Authenticity: Original · One of a Kind · Signed Certificate of Authenticity

Artwork Interpretation

Executed in ink and color on paper, this work combines water-based media with a rich, painterly surface that visually recalls the depth and layering often associated with oil painting. Through a clearly structured composition and figurative imagery, the work establishes a strong and immediately recognizable visual order.

Recurring red heart motifs intersect with the human figure, allowing emotion to function as something both worn and concealed—present yet never fully revealed. Rather than offering a direct narrative, the work relies on the interaction between symbolic elements and bodily form, inviting viewers to enter a carefully constructed psychological space.

While the surface treatment and color handling suggest a painterly density, the work remains grounded in an experimental use of ink and color on paper. This tension between medium and visual effect is a defining characteristic of Ma Ao’s practice, where the boundaries between ink painting and oil painting are deliberately blurred.

Formally, the work carries a strong decorative quality. Its clear compositional structure and distilled visual symbols allow it to integrate effectively within interior environments, offering presence and balance when displayed in residential or public spaces.

The integration of emotional imagery, symbolic language, and painterly surface is not the result of stylistic imitation, but rather reflects a personal visual language developed through sustained artistic practice. This approach is uncommon among contemporaries and remains difficult to replicate, contributing to the work’s distinct identity and recognizability.