As far as his parents, who live in northern China, are concerned, Musk Ming is an art gallery worker somewhere in Europe - they aren't aware their 31-year-old son is an up-and-coming artist in Berlin, Germany. Ming does not use his real name and is coy with his parents about his life abroad for two reasons: he is a homosexual and he specialises in gay art.
'Being gay is too much to be accepted in mainland China. My parents may accept it but the people around them won't and my parents may get upset,' says Ming, who left for Europe five years ago.
His work, characterised by nude male figures wrapped up in Mao-era imagery, has a flamboyant quality that contrasts with its soft-spoken creator. Ming grew up as an obedient and book-loving child who wore thick glasses and stammered. Yet along with a deferential demeanour he possessed an urge to break free. He found his freedom in Berlin, where he has come out of the closet and develops art that would be frowned upon in his homeland.
'In China, you have to be the same as others and I was considered weird. Here, I can do what I want without worrying what other people think. The emphasis is on individuality. I've been told not to be reserved but be crazier - and I thought I was already crazy,' he says.
Ming had wanted to go to an art college in the mainland but his civil-servant father made him do a degree in computing instead. His first job was as a graphic designer, which he enjoyed. Yet life remained unsatisfactory, partly because he had to hide his homosexuality from everyone except a couple of close friends. Then he befriended a German man online, who is now his partner, and his life changed.
In 2003, he visited the friend in Berlin and took a shine to the city.