The mission of a specimen is to represent. It should be clear and precise, demonstrating every single detail of a species as a conglomeration of information. Luo Min’s specimens oppose these qualities. Her insects do not approach verisimilitude but carry fuzzy edges and curvy postures enhanced by the saturating qualities of water-based pigments. Instead of mounting the insects on a monochrome background like museum specimens, Luo populates her background with color dots and hues in pink and light brown scattered unevenly across the picture plane, generating a dreamy intimacy that softens the rigidity of the specimens and resurrects the insects. Mounting the specimens in a handscroll format also allows the static objects to be viewed in an occasional, portable, and flowing manner. Specimens are not only representations of certain species, but also vessels of the collectors’ memory, in which the animals themselves, though the process may be cruel, function as an index for a certain story. Maybe the collector went on a research trip, or maybe someone picked up the poor animal somewhere and donated it to the museum. But in either case, Luo’s handscroll emancipates viewers from being mere passive recipients of knowledge to active travelers in stories. Here, specimens not only represent biological information, but also a personal experience of traveling and feeling.

标本的使命是代表。它需要是一个清晰且准确的信息集合，直观展示每个物种的每个细节。但罗敏的标本反对这些特质。她笔下的昆虫不追求逼真，而是带着水基颜料阴湿纸面留下的毛绒边缘和弯曲形体。与博物馆将标本摆放在单色背景上的做法不同，罗敏让她的背景充满粉色和棕色的色点和晕染效果，制造出一种似梦的亲密感，消解了标本的严肃僵硬并让昆虫重新焕发生机。

罗敏将她的作品以手卷的形式装裱，使本身静止的物象在观看的过程中变成一种可以临时更换、携带、流动的对象。标本本身就不只是某个物种的代表，更是收集者记忆的容器。过程残酷与否，这些动物本身都是某段经历和事件的索引。收集者有可能当时在某次调研旅行中，或者只是有人捡到了这只动物并把它捐给了博物馆。但无论那种情况，罗敏的手卷都将观者从被动接受知识的角色解放成了他们自己故事中主动的旅人。在这件作品中，标本不仅仅代表生物学上的信息，更代表关于旅行和感受的个人经历。