Mr. Matos Went To Buy Tomatoes

The story tells of a painter, Mr. Mi, who, unable to paint tomatoes, leaves his house to buy some at the market. Unexpectedly, his shopping bag breaks, the tomatoes fall and take root, and the vines follow Mr. Mi through streets and alleys, finally reaching his home. Then, Mr. Mi encounters... a cat?

This story took some time from conception to publication. Many emotions about the city are subtly hidden within it, layer by layer. I've always believed that the charm of urban spaces lies in the various subtle emotions that residents conceal within them, whether in old tenement buildings, lighthouses, vegetable stalls, markets, or even... a cat?

Readers who pick up this book will undoubtedly find themselves within it: the introverted, unsocial self, the self longing to connect with lost memories. When we interact with new things and see that they all stem from old souls we already know, that feeling of inexplicable emotion arises. And "Mr. Mi Went to Buy Tomatoes" contains these details.

(In this version, "Mr. Matos Went to Buy Tomatoes" uses the past tense, so, Mr. Mi's present, how are you?)

"The small, static plant transforms into a huge, dynamic force, exploring the entire city, which is what makes the story playful." — Kawai Shinichi, "Macau Picture Book Incident Book: Tenement Building Cutout"

"I enjoy looking at the facades of old tenement buildings, at the sun-dried quilts gently dancing on balconies, at the traces left by life. What I see daily is stored in my mind, becoming material readily available for creation, an essential scene in stories. When conceiving this exhibition, I wanted to magnify Mr. Mi's world; enlarging the book-sized illustrations would surely be interesting. On deeper reflection, Mr. Mi's world is precisely the environment I live in. I put it into a book, and now I'm taking it out to examine it closely. The process is a bit circuitous but also explains the meaning of this work: what is painted is the sum of life." — Yang Xiaoman