Three opera figures lean in opposing directions around the glow of a lotus-shaped lantern. Their masks and costumes are compressed into angular planes and sweeping lines, while warm light appears from behind them. Lin converts stage action into a layered tableau without stripping away its dramatic identity.
The opaque gouache-like color recalls the mass of Cubist oil painting, but shadow puppetry, paper cutting, opera posture, and the dim bulb in Lin's Shanghai studio are equally important. The image is modern because these visual systems are made to act together, not because one has been disguised as another.
