A piece of art work by Ai Jing, a popular singer-songwriter in the '90s. Photo provided to China Daily

She moved to New York in 1997 and spent nearly a decade there polishing her art skills, focusing on installations.

"That kind of life made me feel real. And I had enough time to think what I want to do next," she recalls.

She decided to return to canvas after creating such installations as the environmentally themed The Tree of Life. In the work, a lonely raven perches on a leafless oak tree made of disposable chopsticks.

Ai will display her latest oil works in her second exhibition I Love Color at Shanghai's China Art Museum.

The show retains "love" as the theme.

It's inspired by her early installation My Mother and My Hometown－a 6-meter-wide, 16-meter-long tapestry of more than 2,400 pieces of fabric knit by nearly 60 people, including her mother, bearing the word "love".

She has created eight oil paintings by repeatedly depicting colorful blocks on canvases with "love" underneath.

"Her new works are as uplifting as her early ones," says Chen Lusheng, curator of Ai's Shanghai exhibition.

"She's bolder and much more confident as an artist."

She was inspired by her 8-year-old nephew when she returned to her hometown, Liaoning province's capital Shenyang, to spend Spring Festival with her family.

"He painted everywhere, and his paintings are full of imagination," Ai says.

"I admire his courage and freedom. As an artist, I want to be like him."

She then initiated the idea of holding a painting competition for children younger than 12 before her May exhibition. She and nine judges, including Chen of the National Museum of China, will select several children's works to be displayed during the exhibition.

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