paper, hands, and shadows

Here are the drafts/models I have made so far.

This is my first basic model; the text in the back is Article 36 of the Chinese constitution stating freedom of speech, press, assemble, etc. The mudra formed by the hand in the forefront represents a threat or warning. This pairing is an example of how I intend to use the mudra to comment or extract alternative meaning from the text I am using to comment on human/civil rights issues in China.

For the next two models, I played with the text a little more by making it bigger and emphasizing important phrases according to what I want to put across.

The text in the pairing is an excerpt from The Analects by Confucius stating "A scholar must be strong and resolute, for his burden is heavy, his journey is long. His burden is humanity: is this not heavy? His journey ends only with death: is this not long?" The mudra represents death.

For this model, the text also comes from the Analects and states, "To store up knowledge in silence, to remain forever hungry for learning, to teach others without tiring--all this comes to me naturally." The mudra means "to bind." I did not play around with the text as much int this model and instead tried to keep it simple and readable.