The Chinese character for "elephant" concurrently encapsulates concepts of "image" (形象), "impression" (印象), "phenomenon in the heavens/sky" (天象), etc.  The Chinese characters for "thinking (about)" and "elephant" have been combined to mean "imagination" (想象). 

But, why elephant?  Why not dragons, lions, phoenix or tigers? 

I embarked on a journey in search of an answer—a journey that would prove to be transformative of my career, and my art.  

Tracing the development of the seal-script characters across three millennia, I studied books of classical canon such as The Book of Changes《易經》, The Book of the Way and Virtue《道德經》, Han Fei Zi  《韓非子》, Wang Anshi's Theory of Words 《王安石字說》to explore the history and development of the Chinese language.  Informed by the knowledge of calligraphers, etymologists, and philosophers both ancient and contemporary, I began to cultivate my own (experience) of the elephant in my art.