boxes, bubbles, and roller-coasters

this two-canvas painting symbolizes my journey. the circle and the diagonal stream represent life. the squares and the circles on the darker area represent the structures and dreams i've had. the structures can be houses, buildings, companies, organizations, and institutions i got involved with. the dreams are the aspirations i've had--some were successful, some were failures. they are like boxes and bubbles. they come and go. but life goes on. the multiple archs under the circle and the stream represent my roller-coaster-like emotions. some are on their way up, some are on top, some are accelerating down at high speed. in the midst of all these emotions happening simultaneously, life goes on. life necessarily includes boxes, bubbles, and roller-coasters. but life goes beyond boxes, bubbles, and roller-coasters.

i painted this in the summer of 1999 as my millennium piece and it hangs in our kitchen, richmond, british columbia.