At first glance, Qi Mengli’s artwork seems to be only comprised of overtly sexual images. Upon a closer inspection, viewers will discover that sex serves only as a small part of a bigger picture, yet is a necessity for what the work seeks to convey. Her recent project Xiao Ren Shu, tells candid tales about some of the men she has encountered in her life. It is considered to be a very personal piece of work and is presented like a monologue. It explores love and relationships, among many other themes. Born in Nanjing, China, Qi Mengli utilizes the familiarity of her birthplace as the backdrop in Miss Known and Sister Known. These two projects transport the viewers to the sites of some well-known Nanjing landmarks, such as the old Chinese presidential quarters and Dr. Sun Yatsen’s Mausoleum.
戚梦莉的作品，让人乍一看会以为是一些以性为主题的绘画，可是细读过后便能发现性在这些作品里只是一些插曲，当然也是必不可少的工具。《小人书》系列是梦莉近年的项目，主要围绕着作者与不同男性、不同人接触的一些故事，可以说是“私房”画，类似一种独白，近期还在发展亲情和其他主题。梦莉是南京人，作品《懂姐姐》和《懂妹妹》等都是以南京为背景，里面涉及到总统府、中山陵等地。
Miss Known is a story about the founding of the Republic of China. Sister Known, on the other hand, has a visual style reminiscent of the music video Ninety-nine Roses, by the famous Chinese singer Samuel Tai. “For example, when someone I meet is giving off a Samuel Tai-style vibe, then that might inspire a story that fits the vibe,” she explains. “The entirety of Xiao Ren Shu follows the traditional comic creation process. But my narrative style is closer to the style of older movies. I like to envision them as old-fashioned music videos.”
《懂姐姐》是关于民国穿越的故事，《懂妹妹》则是受到歌手邰正宵的歌曲《九十九朵玫瑰》MV的启发。谈及创作过程，她说：“比如我遇到的这个角色像邰正宵style，那么我就给他们模拟成那样的故事。”她创作的所有小人书都以传统的连环画形式构成，其叙事上应用了老电影的形式，可以其称之为old-fashioned MV。
Mengli’s work is greatly influenced by the filmmakers Wong Kar-Wai and Tsai Ming-liang. In her comic art, every frame has a cinematic feel instilled in it. That particular style is especially common in Japanese manga and Western comics.
梦莉的作品在故事模式上大有王家卫与蔡明亮二位导演电影的风格。她连环画中的每一页都应用了电影式的镜头，这种现代手法不管是在日本漫画还是欧美漫画中都被普遍地使用。
The Xiao Ren Shu series had previously been displayed in an exhibition hosted in the US, but the reception it got didn’t meet Mengli’s expectations. She feels this series mostly contains Chinese influences and themes, and thus would be more suitable for the exhibition to be held in China. She sees the exhibit more fittingly being hosted in an older Chinese building with a historic past; for example, she envisions architecture such as the historic old Shanghai buildings near Yuyuan. Mengli also considers an intimate and artsy café space to be a suitable place to exhibit her work. In the future, she hopes that her collection of picture books can have a spot on bookshelves for interested readers.
此前，《小人书》系列曾在美国展出一次，当时效果并未达到梦莉的期待。梦莉认为，这样一个很“中国”的系列更应该放在国内展出。至于展览场所，梦莉表示像豫园之类的历史老建筑自是最合适不过，当然文艺小资的咖啡店也可。这些小人书将是一整套的作品，是届时可以放在书架一角供人阅读的小故事。
Mengli reveals that she is currently working on a series of black-and-white comics, as well as being in the process of turning the Xiao Ren Shu series into a puppet animation. The decision to use puppets is mainly because of her personal interest and childhood nostalgia towards them. She explains, “I loved Afanti when I was a child. The textures and colors in that world are what I seek to recreate with my future animation.”
目前梦莉正在制作一批黑白版本的小人书，也正在筹划将《小人书》的故事拍成木偶动画。选择木偶来做动画纯粹是因为个人喜好，她说：“小时候看过阿凡提的故事，里面的颜色和质感也是我追求的一种环境。”
Similar to Mengli, plenty of other artists in China pay out of their own pocket and publish independently. In doing so, it makes it incredibly difficult for the artists to make any profits. Fortunately, there are now more and more channels from which talented creators can be discovered. Many artists, including Meng Li, believes the future for them will hold a more nurturing environment for their craft. Xiao Ren Shu is now available for purchase in the New York Printed Matter store and select book fairs in the United States.
如同梦莉的做法一样，很多艺术家都选择了独自出版自费印刷。这其中的经济利益是很低的，对于艺术发展也并不良性。好在这些年我们对于这些艺术家的了解方式越来越多，也涌现了很多如戚梦莉一般的优秀艺术家相信往后的创作环境会更好。《小人书》在纽约的Printed Matter等一些外国小众书展已经开始出售。
