His encounters during military service with mockup towns used for training piqued
Ma’s imagination and inspired him to weave bizarre and enigmatic places and
scenarios, e.g., culturally sacred and significant sites, local talismans, collections of
statues, urban street islands, the “Eighteen Levels of Hell” at the base of Mt. Bagua,
and the emotional spaces in pop music, into his creative efforts. In his works, he turns
his military-honed keen eye for observation inward. Through surveys, curation, and
framing, Ma molds a myriad of “fauxscape” scenarios that allow readers to explore and
test the questionable aspects of everyday politics.