Faultline is inspired by the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), a civil conflict that reshaped Qing-era China not only through battle, but through prolonged disruption of land, labor, and daily life.
As control shifted repeatedly, countryside and settlement bore the strain.
Fields were abandoned, reclaimed, and abandoned again.
What appeared pastoral often concealed instability beneath it.
When the rebellion ended, recovery was uneven.
Nature returned faster than certainty.
Scars remained where order had fractured.
The composition reflects that quiet aftermath.
Hills rise gently, marked by fissure.
New growth emerges alongside breakage.
Blossoms persist without signaling renewal.
Faultline does not depict destruction.
It depicts the long surface calm that follows it.
A narrative illustration issued as a single edition of 50.
Archived upon completion.
