木玉明

Paradise on Earth · Kunming

March – April 2026

Material
Ink on raw xuan paper
Dimensions
50 × 50 cm · 20 × 20 in
Location
Kunming, Yunnan

World War III · 3 of 5

Picture Story

Ink on raw xuan paper, 50 × 50 cm, created in Kunming, April 2026.

This work depicts the Third World War that is about to happen or already unfolding. The painting presents the devastating possibility of nuclear war through minimalist ink language: the rising yellow halo at the centre is both explosion fire and embryonic mushroom cloud; scarlet and orange interweave like spreading lava, alluding to scorched earth after nuclear blast; jagged white lines in the grey-black background trace missile trajectories, cutting the chaotic battlefield into fragments.

Yet at this moment, these hands no longer merely heal personal pain, but issue warnings for the fate of all humanity: from virus to nuclear war, humanity is walking toward self-destruction.

The work is a complete overturning of the belief that "when humans connect with each other, it is paradise" — when communication yields to slaughter, when technology becomes weapon, the global village turns into a sea of fire. The artist speaks directly as one person, calling for a change of course before destruction, returning to the civilised choice of dialogue over destruction.

Project Story

March 15 to mid-April 2026. This series was created by the artist upon returning to Kunming after a self-healing journey through Laos and Thailand, resonating with other scrolls of Paradise on Earth made during his travels.

The loss of his parents was still fresh, the grief raw; simultaneously, crises in the external world were unfolding in succession — from the lingering trauma of the pandemic to continuous conflicts between the US and Iran, the flames of Gaza, and the Russia–Ukraine war — humanity's fate hangs in the balance.

Self-made charcoal · traditional mineral pigments · raw xuan paper