Story of Simon Birch

People often ask about my inspirations and how I developed @the14thfactory. This is my story...

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Working with Beijing artists like Li Wei and Cang Xin was especially rewarding, spending time with them in their studios and with their fellow artist friends, like Yu Hong, Yang Zhi Chao and being received with great warmth and seeing their huge studios, work, installations, and performances…. incredible and inspiring. Artists who had really gone through challenges in China.

Participating in artist Cang Xin's work
It really got me thinking about scale and bravery. In HK it’s always small studios and small galleries but Beijing made me think about going big.

Seeing the production potential too, carpenters, metal workers, sculptors, marble, you name it, they can build it, craftsmen, so highly skilled, so hard working. It opened my imagination to what was possible to create......anything!

Painting with Cang Xin as the model
From my construction worker/painter foundation, and new efforts in larger and collaborative work, I started to think about new projects and going big. I photographed many of these great artists and started painting them. All were happy to be subjects.

As my profile grew I started to get press and then invited to events and had some super fun experiences. Spent an evening with Kanye West who was so cool and smart and inspiring. Not the extreme person I’ve seen in the press. I got to dance with Prince and go to his private party where he played 3 feet away from me for 3 hours. Met many celebs, not all good, Kevin Spacey for example. I bought a Porsche (i know, tacky, black cabriolet 993).

Painting with Cang Xin as the model
I then won an art award and a Louis Vuitton sponsorship, got to hang my work in their flagship store, it was all just going fantastically, even met a girl I really liked very much. So of course, life had to slap me in the face.....
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