Mei-Ying Dell'Aquila, Artist

I am fascinated by the annual migration of the Monarch Butterfly. The orange butterflies start their journey in mass from a 900 square foot Mexican mountain top, eventually reach Canada. It takes three generations for the Monarch to reach Canada. The 4th generation is so strong that it can fly all the way back to Mexico. Their navigation ability is unsurpassed. Researchers tested the Monarch's navigation abilities by flying groups of butterflies to far flung locations in order to disorient. To the researcher's astonishment, the released Monarchs corrected their travel direction accurately and eventually reached home.

The following four paintings I compared the Monarch's migration with my ancestor's migration from China to Taiwan 500 years ago.

1. Origin (oil on canvas, 45" x 45");
Depicts how the current generation has been influenced by our ancestors; as if we have a compass guiding us to the right path life.

We left our homeland for reasons; for me it was the pursuit of academic studies. For the Monarch, their migration is the way of life; for my ancestors, migration was used for hunting purposes; a way to earn a living.

When the Monarch encounters bad weather over water, it will find a boat or shelter to rest until the weather improves. My ancestors harvested animal hides and took a boat from China across the Taiwan Strait to sell the goods in Taiwan.

When the journeying Monarch discovers a secure location providing safety and food, they inevitably will stay. In this painting, I use part of a Chinese dragon image as the symbol of Heaven.

Courtesy of R. Ashley Collection.