Without confining myself to a particular style, I'd say that my feelings, emotions, dreams and experiences dictate what I paint and the colors I use. Like Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte, I enjoy juxtaposing unlike elements that allow for a more individual interpretation. Spontaneous painting is also a technique I use because it allows me to freely project colors onto canvas; either to delicately apply them in tiny, meticulous drops, or to fling them onto the canvas, letting the colors run and live by their own rules.

In my paintings, I use a multitude of colors. Letting the colors guide me, I've noticed that I favor some over others. I found that my recurring colors while working in Shenzhen were red and yellow; two very omnipresent and symbolic colors in China. Red symbolizes good fortune, while the yellow, at least by my interpretation, reflects the warmth and hospitality of the Chinese.

As a result of visiting several different art galleries, I was able to experience, first-hand, the richness of Chinese art. This richness is depicted through Chinese ink drawings, as well as the calligraphy of great masters. It was just after a visit to a Chinese art gallery that I had an idea. I was so spellbound by the dexterity and graceful arm movements used to create the wash drawings, that I decided to try it for myself. After many trials on paper, I moved to the canvas, which is how one of my first works in China came to be.

Using a large brush, I applied a few drops of ink onto the moist canvas. Playing with the way the ink can be controlled with the brush or allow to run rampantly on its own, I created an interesting monochrome backdrop. On this backdrop, I began to paint characters from a perspective that gave the impression of conversion at a central point in the middle of the canvas. The rest just came out like an instinctive blend of what I knew and what I had learned in China. I called this work Help Me because it symbolized what I was feeling at the moment.

The painting reflects my confusion and my ignorance with respect to Chinese characters, and more specifically, with respect to the characters I saw all around me on the streets, on billboards, signs, and in the newspaper.

What I most cherish from my visit to China is the hospitality, humility and generosity of the people, and the richness of the culture. Many thanks to my Chinese friends for having given me the opportunity to be so memorably enriched.

The writer is an artist from Mauritius who visited China in 2009