Southern South (2016) is inspired by a famous quote from Chinese poet Tao Yuanming: “when the mind is detached from worldly matter, the surroundings are naturally peaceful.” Tao is most famous for his poems related to the desire of escaping the darkness of reality and finding utopia. Continuously pursuing inner peace during his lifetime, Qin Ai’s paintings convey a similar quality to Tao’s philosophies.

The elk in Southern South is standing at the edge of a cliff, surrounded by vast mountains. The situation depicted, mirrors one of a person trapped in the dilemmas of the real world, eager to find his or her own inner peace. Qin explains: “For me, inner peace is the most important element to motivate myself in my career, no matter how reality changes. This spirituality is what I treasure most, and I hope to pass along this message to the audience through my art.”

「結廬在人境，而無車馬喧。問君何能爾？心遠地自偏。采菊東籬下，悠然見南山。山氣日夕佳，飛鳥相與還。此中有真意，欲辨已忘言。」 ——陶淵明《飲酒·其五》

秦艾的作品總帶著精致的夢幻感，她擅長將中國傳統的工筆繪畫技法與西式的圖景制作相融合起來，彌漫著絲絲的現代感。秦艾喜歡將動物作擬人化，將人類的感情融入其中，借以表達對於現實世界的無奈。秦艾保留了傳統工筆畫的「礬與染」的技巧，結合西方的一點或兩點透視法，展現東方視角。

作品《南山南》的畫題取自陶淵明留傳千古的絕句：「采菊東籬下，悠然見南山」。歸隱南山的陶淵明或許不屑於縣令之職，爲了逃避分爭的亂世，所以最後選擇了隱退，並成爲東晉最後一位名士。

在當代藝術家秦艾看來，陶淵明的「南山」是士大夫內心清高的精神內核，也是他們的品位與精神境界的象征。《南山南》裏圍繞四周的峭璧如現實世界的界限，將畫中的糜鹿重重包圍。糜鹿站在懸崖的邊緣，凝望著遠方想著心中「南山」，呈現渴望隱逸的它與紛爭隔離的狀態。這種精神特質在千百年以來，貫穿著中國文化的知識階層，並體現在我們的音樂和繪畫之中。

秦艾透過《南山南》喻意裏中國的傳統的藝術，題材並不是最重要，個人的修養與境界才是畫中的精髓。她為此作以下解說：「對我而言，無論世界將如何變化，這種精神是重要的，《南山南》便是這種精神的傳承，是我心中的南山。」