ART CHINA: How did you get the chance to design the stamp of the year of Tiger?
Kam Mak：Actually,I was not asked to design the year of Tiger at first, I was asked to design the year Rat,the first animal of Zodiac, by U.S. Postal Service. I got a call from them one day to design the stamp,it was very exciting. It’s a great honor to be asked to create a stamp. More than that, it is a lunar New Year stamp which is part of my own culture. I don’t think it’s a competition,they may have few people in mind. I don't know the process of choosing ,but in the end I was the one they asked to design the lunar new year stamp,I was very excited.
藝術中國：你是怎麼得到設計虎年郵票的機會的？
麥錦鴻:事實上，我不是首先被要求設計虎年郵票，我是首先被美國郵政總局要求設計鼠年郵票，十二生肖裏面的第一個動物。有一天他們給我打電話設計郵票，我興奮極了。被要求設計郵票是一件極大的榮譽，更重要的是，這是農曆新年的郵票，它是我自己的文化的一部分。我不認為這是個競爭過程，或許一開始他們有一些人選。我不太知道裏面具體的選擇過程，但最後我稱為被選擇設計農曆新年郵票的人，我非常興奮。
ART CHINA: Could you introduce yourself?
Kam Mak：My name is Kam Mak. I was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the U.S. with my parents in 1971. I grow up in Chinatown in New York City. I went to a public high school of Music & Art.From there I went to a very good School of Visual Arts. I was fortunate to win a scholarship of four years. There I was trained as an illustrator. I graduated as a Bachelor of Fine Arts and then worked as an illustrator. I’ve done book cover, magazines, including New York Time, Times, Newsweek. One of the books is “My Chinatown.”
問：您能做一下自我介紹嗎？
麥錦鴻:我叫麥錦鴻，出生於香港，1971年我十歲的時候隨父母移民到美國，在紐約市的唐人街長大。（後來）我去了一所藝術高中，從那裏我去了一所非常棒的視覺藝術院校讀書，很幸運，我得到了四年的獎學金。在那裏我受到了插畫藝術的專業訓練。獲得純藝術類學士學位後，我為書籍和報紙畫插畫和封面，包括《紐約時報》、《時代週刊》、《新聞週刊》等。這是我設計的一本叫做《我的中國城》的書籍。
ART CHINA: About the design of the stamp
Kam Mak:Like previous series, the idea was to use the animal of Chinese zodiac as the central element of the stamp. That was my first approach. I somehow felt something was missing. When I thought about Chinese lunar New Year, there were so many other things than just the zodiac animal. So I talked to the director Ethel Kessler of this project and listed many things about Chinese New Year. Finally I chose narcissus as the main character of the stamp. It was inspired by the tradition my grandmother did every Spring Festival. She will grow Chinese narcissus and put some peddles in the flowerpot. It is said if the narcissus bloom on the first day of Spring Festival, it will bring good luck and fortune to the family in New Year. I think it’s a symbol of Chinese New Year culture.
問：關於虎年郵票設計
麥錦鴻:和這個系列的前幾個作品一樣，郵票的設計理念是用生肖動物作為主體，一開始我也是沿著這個思路設計。但是後來我感到似乎有什麼東西丟掉了。當我想到中國的春節，我的腦海裏會出現許許多多的事物，不僅僅是生肖動物。於是我和我們的設計總監Ethel Kessler進行溝通，列出了許多跟春節相關的事物。最後我選擇水仙當做郵票的主體，這也是受了我祖母的啟發。每到春節，她都會種一盆水仙，在花盆裏面放上石子。在中國文化中，如果水仙在初一開花，就會給整個家庭帶來一年的好運。我想它更能代表中國的春節文化。
The paper cut appears on every stamp of the series. So I put it on my stamp. 剪紙圖案在這個系列的郵票上都會出現，我也延續了這種風格。
ART CHINA: How the Americans accept the stamp?
Kam Mak:People in the U.S.A. love the stamp very much. As far as I know, I receive many positive responses. The stamp has two different meanings. It introduces Chinese culture to American people. And it's a great honor endowed by the U.S. government to thank for Chinese Americans who have contributed a lot to build this country. The project was initiated from 2006 and the first stamp came out in 2008.
問：美國的人們怎麼看中國虎年郵票？
麥錦鴻:美國人非常喜歡這個郵票，我得到的反饋都是正面的。這個郵票包含著幾層意義。首先它將中國文化介紹到美國。其次，這個項目是美國政府為了紀念和感謝為建設美國出力的中國人而進行的，2006年開始籌備，2008年第一張生肖郵票發行。
美國2010虎年郵票設計者麥錦鴻與他設計的郵票