Culturing 酵種 - Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) Graduate Exhibition 2021 藝術文學士畢業展 2021
Preface
The 2021 Hong Kong Art School Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) Graduation Exhibition, titled “Culturing”, presents artworks ranging from ceramics, painting, photography and installation art, created by 35 graduating students. The degree program is a collaboration between RMIT University and Hong Kong Art School, nurturing students in art practice. The exhibition is a time to celebrate and also a threshold for graduates to transition into an artist.
“Culturing”, in biological context means 'to maintain' or 'to breed (tissue cells, bacteria etc.)'.
The process of culturing is an analogy of opportunity for change, and a metaphor of challenging times we encounter in Hong Kong and around the world. It conveys a belief of art making; it is a response to unpredictable situations and turbulence within society. “Culturing” also conveys the predicament of finding a way to adopt the “new normal”, coexisting with the pandemic and uncertainty ahead. The graduates take hold of their artistic practice to cultivate art within the difficulties of life.
Throughout three years of intensive education, students developed the skills of their own major practice and adopt multi-disciplinary approaches through continual practices and explorations, trials and failures. Each artwork represents a fulfilling learning journey for the graduates, carrying their beliefs and pursuits. The students through the exhibition want to show gratitude to all teachers for their mentorships and commitment to sharing their invaluable knowledge.
We are thrilled to invite the public to view “Culturing”, a vibrant showcase into our artistic exploration and desire to explore deeper into life.
I am delighted to contribute to Culturing, the 2021 Graduate Exhibition. As the title suggests, we have learnt a great deal about the sharing of cultures over the last year, whether across borders through online means, the 'cultivation' of culture in the sense of biomedical investigation, or the co-existence of human and viral cultures, an established dimension of our ecosystems even before COVID. Each of these resonate in some way with the experience of these graduating Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) students, and do underpin their approach to conceptualising this exhibition.
economies; or, in so-called 'cottage industries' - local, often not for profit communities of practitioners that focus on felt rather than theoretical issues, to develop their own models of exchange and sustainability. We are seeing increasing interest across all sectors in the skills developed by our graduates in the service of their discipline. A recent report by Deloitte on the future of work states:
New capabilities are needed for new jobs of the future. Lifelong education and training for all Australians needs to prepare both young and old for new and different jobs and employment models. Automation, robotics and artificial intelligence are heightening the importance of skills in creativity, problem solving, advanced reasoning, complex judgement, social interaction and emotional intelligence. (Deloitte Millennial Survey 2018 – The Australian Cut)
This is not only a much-deserved celebration: it marks a step-change in the status of the students who are graduating. The Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) program, offered by the Hong Kong Art School of the Hong Kong Art Centre in partnership with RMIT University is internationally recognised as a gateway into practice, as well as higher levels of study: a badge of honour. Completion represents the emergence of defined artistic identities, formed through rigorous critique, sophisticated innovation and an immersion in creativity. This has been achieved through dedication and hard work: by themselves, by their lecturers and the many support staff across the both institutions. My sincere thanks and congratulations to them all.
Art education has been offered at RMIT since its foundation in 1887, with Photography amongst the oldest continuously offered such programs in the world. A separate school was founded in 1917 (the second following the Trades School in 1890). Today it is ranked first in Australia and 11th in the world for Art (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020). Founded on a deep commitment to praxis, alternative ways of knowing and the critical role of art in global society, the school aspires to build on this history to achieve real and lasting impact.
At RMIT, we pride ourselves in achieving outcomes that not only prepare for, but enhance the future careers of our graduates. 'Work ready' is a term often used to describe these qualities; those who complete are programs are seen as future leaders in, indeed the shapers of, the 'world of work'.
But what do we mean by the term 'work' in the field of contemporary art? Do we mean the artworks themselves; or, work as practice? Is this working for the betterment of society; or, supplying the art market, that supports artists' and gallerists' livelihoods? Do we mean work undertaken in the wider 'creative industries', an increasingly important dimension of national and international
The 2018 study for the World Economic Forum, 'The Future of Jobs Report', identified 'analytical thinking and innovation, active learning and learning strategies, creativity, originality and initiative' as thee of the most important three skills for the workforce of 2022. Similarly, a 2016 Foundation for Young Australians report found that the proportion of (Australian) jobs that demand digital literacy has increased by 212%, critical thinking by 158%, creativity by 65% and presentation skills by 25% (Foundation for Young Australians, The New Basics, 2016). While these statistics refer to Australia, they are also relevant to Hong Kong; and given the centrality of these skills in the studies of these graduates, their capacity to engage with the future world of work seems assured, whatever path they choose.
The graduates presented here have each identified their particular response to the "work" required of them in their first calling, as emerging artists. They having achieved a depth of understanding of the field of contemporary art, as well as excellence in both their individual practice and contribution to this shared field. This exhibition is witness to the next generation of artists, who we can be assured will evolve our current thinking, adapt to the new opportunities of ever changing media and re-assert the value of the work that artists do.
They emerge into a field of art expanded as never before: where art works across media, cultures, industries and economies, often simultaneously. As Jeremy Deller comments "I don’t make things, I make things happen." This widening horizon of practice is matched by an increasing emphasis on collaboration between the artist and those who engage with art: embedding practice in society. The challenge ahead for these graduates, then, is not just how to engage, but what to do with that engagement: how to collaboratively re-think the world through art. This, too, is no small undertaking; as Hannah Arendt said: "There are no dangerous thoughts; thinking itself is dangerous." Here we find perhaps the most important work of the artist: negotiating risk to think anew.
Whether they continue to explore their chosen field as contemporary artists, or, the wider frames of society that are similarly calling for creativity and innovation, their ability to re-imagine has the potential to change the world. These new ideas will be especially needed as we enter a post-COVID, or rather co-COVID, future. As esteemed alumni of RMIT University and the Hong Kong Art School, we wish them every success. Congratulations and good wishes for the road ahead.
「未來的新職業亟需新的能力。為所有澳洲公民而設的終身教育及學習，均應不計較年齡，為 其將來嶄新、不同職位和僱用模式做好準備。自動操作、機械人和人工智能均提高了創意、解決難題、 高 深推理、複雜判定，社會互動和情緒智商等多 方面 技能的重要性」。(Deloitte Millennial Survey 2018 – The Australian Cut) 世界經濟論壇於2018年的《未來就業報告》(The Future of Jobs Report) 中，指出「分析思維
及創新、主動學習和學習策略、創造力、原創性和自發性，是2022年職場人員須擁有的三項最重要 技能」。同樣，澳洲青年基⾦會於2016年 份報告中，發現（澳洲）職位佔比中，要求具有數碼能 力的增加了212%，精密思量158%，創造力 65%，表達技能25% (Foundation for Young Australians, The New Basics, 2016) 。雖然這些統計資料涉及澳洲，但對⾹港不無切身關係。既然這些技能在對畢 業生進行的研究中具關鍵性，我們面對學生們不論其所選擇的路途而能夠投身未來工作世界，並綽 綽有餘，實在無庸置喙。
The most recent Venice Biennale – often dubbed the Olympics of art – was held in 2019 and responded to the theme May You Live in Interesting Times. This title is believed to be an Anglicised version of the expression “Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos" (寧為太平犬，不做亂世人) by Ming Dynasty historian, writer and poet, Feng Menglong. The premise of the exhibition was that artists are well placed to respond to ambiguity and complexity. They exist at the nexus of the social and the cultural and the material. If only the Artistic Director knew of the complexities that were to come in 2020.
The class of 2020 emerge in an era unlike any other in living memory. These graduates, therefore, are "culturing in interesting times", which, it could be argued, is what artists do best. The global impact of the COVID pandemic dramatically affected how students studied in 2020 and, in a fine art context, what they produced. In addition to these unprecedented global impacts, Hong Kong has also experienced a complex social situation in recent years, creating further sites of negotiation for students and Hongkongers. By necessity, the students in this graduating cohort have developed competencies in adaptability and responsiveness. They complete their undergraduate studies possessing a range of skills that are necessarily more process-oriented and flexible than those of previous years. As a result, they have created artworks that are urgent and dynamic and affective, mirroring the context in which they have been made.
Art has a unique ability to critically chronicle a moment in time in visceral ways that other cultural records rarely capture. While history is usually documented in ways that are literal and cerebral and factual, the encounter with an artwork is often multisensorial and bodily and moving. Picasso’s Guernica (1937), Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People (1830), Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party (1974), and Zhang Huan’s 12 Square Meters (1994) are but a few examples of artists making visible the sensation of being present in a particular time and place. In these artworks the Spanish Civil War, the French Revolution, the Feminist Movement, and rapid urbanisation in China in the 1990s are captured in ways that history books cannot replicate. Like our graduates working in the unprecedented world that we occupy today, these artists capture the zeitgeists of their own generations.
Working across ceramics, painting, photography, and sculpture, these students are both experts in the medium of their specialisation and sophisticated contemporary artists able to respond conceptually and materially to whatever subject matter engages them most urgently. Our expanded understanding of contemporary art in the present moment requires graduates of the Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) program to be creative thinkers and talented makers. While they bring their special skills to each work they produce, they are not limited by their materials or their imagination.
The title of this graduate exhibition, Culturing, is especially apt. In a laboratory setting, culturing involves creating a medium for developing, inoculating, incubating, and examining micro-organisms. An art school engages in a similar process of culturing its students. It creates a structure for development and protects, supports, and reviews the subjects in its charge. At the end of the culturing process in the art school we too see patterns and growth emerge. As in the laboratory, this process also continues well beyond the confines of the initial study too. The School of Art at RMIT University and the Hong Kong Arts School are incubators for creativity, releasing these very capable thinkers and practitioners into the world with, as RMIT’s motto attests, “a skilled hand and a cultivated mind” (Perita manus, mens exculta).
A fine art education is not exclusively for the purpose of creating more professional artists or creative practitioners, however, though many of these graduates will go on to have successful careers in the arts. For an education in fine art also creates critical thinkers who are more complete human beings with curious minds. At a time when innovation and creative thinking are highly prized capabilities across a range of industries, our students are graduating well equipped with these finely honed, relevant, and transferable skills.
The final bodies of work we see in the graduate exhibition are but the tip of the iceberg for these students. They belie the research, experimentation, testing, and making that sit behind the artistic process. They are also part of a hidden collaborative process where lecturers, peers, family, and friends have contributed conceptually, materially, and socially to the final outcomes. Art has a special ability to soak up a range of influences and distill them into something poetic, experiential, and thought-provoking.
Congratulations to all graduands whose work appears in Culturing. You now join the esteemed ranks of the talented alumni of RMIT University and Hong Kong Art School. We wish you every success with your future careers and creative endeavors.
The theme of this year’s graduation exhibition of the Hong Kong School is Culturing. I checked on the Internet and it refers to an essential material for fermentation in bread making. Yeasts, like bacteria exists in many places. Just like humans, they bond with or reject each other.
What's interesting about the theme Culturing is that the fermentation process reflects the making of arts, as well as the various interactions between arts and "others" during the creative process.
The process of fermentation would not be considered as a pleasant experience. Indeed, it does not look good, it is the formation of different substances that are being mixed and catalyzed. Yet our very existence is also being nurtured by water, air, sugar and the weather as essential in fermentation?
The existence of our ancestors were also supported by these basic substances. When tools were invented as functional objects, art happened to be a "useless" by-product. Art was considered useless, but such "uselessness" contributes to the human civilization and serves as an invaluable reserve. The mystery in nature is beyond human vision, everything is generated for a reason. It does not necessary to be "useful" or ranked as good or bad based on its "usefulness".
The universal law of Growth and Death in nature, that each death signifies a growth and the cycle of each generation become precise yet complicated. It occurs in biological evolution, as well as in human civilization.
As for art, although it does not deliberately create knowledge, it is an indispensable symbiosis that breeds knowledge. As a specific knowledge, there are a portion in arts that can be accumulated as well as those that cannot be accumulated. From the perspective of education, there are parts that can be taught and those cannot be taught. I increasingly have this feeling that a good art education is not only about the course syllabus and arrangement, but the atmosphere and the learning environment is equally important. It is not only the teaching, but the interaction and mutual effect from each of the students. In this sense, as a private art school with limited resources, the Hong Kong School of Arts exists more like a proofing box for fermentation. The raw materials are laid down, and they naturally intermingle and grow. Students in the Hong Kong School of Arts came from different age groups,
social experiences and backgrounds. Most of the students do not follow the presumed steps of the society, but from all kinds of accidents, doubts and obstacles they eventually achieve the idealized goal. The motivation is the enthusiasm and curiosity of art learning. I dare say that this is the most basic condition for enjoying and creating art. When I was in the Art School, I saw the vitality in such kind of fermentation process, the process might not be beautiful, but it is full of vitality and power.
In the past two years, Hong Kong has experienced many unexpected situations, student’s studies have deviated from the normal setting. Everyone is learning in an improvised condition, but I just happen to see opportunities in such "unfavorable" situations. The opportunity is that we have slowed down, we spend more time with ourselves, and we are more sensitive to things around us; we have an awareness of our ordinary dailies, we need to learn to cope with pain, and we also begin to understand the pain of others, and start to think about life... In addition to what is right or wrong, money, and material matters, things that are originally out of reach... Isn't this very interesting?
The reason why art is close to human nature is because of its "uselessness." Sometimes it is neither "good" nor "beautiful", but it must be "true" for this to be powerful and enduring. I don't expect to see all of the students to reach the "peak" of their creation instantly in the graduation exhibition. hope that all students are like bacteria, with extreme adaptability and vitality - if we are not defeated by the situation, we will become stronger!
The title of this year’s Bachelor of Arts Graduation Exhibition "Culturing", provides an insight of what the artists had in mind during process of their art making and their response to the expectation of the public while the world is experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.
The Chinese and English name of the exhibition: "酵種 Culturing", both of which can be used as nouns and verbs. Not only that it associates with "fermentation", it also suggests the growing process and expectation. The Chinese title consists of two words, in straight English translation, it is "Fermentation Seed", that also relates to seed germination.
Culturing, in a broad sense is the decomposition process of organic matter by microorganisms. On the other hand, it is the sum of small power, little things that make a difference. Considering "decomposition", the Hongkongers are in a "decomposed" state after experiencing the social political melee and the pandemic turmoil in the past two years. As an artist to create in this pathetic situation, it is painful but it also brings us new inspirations. All the old rules are broken, changes happened so quickly before we realize the differences: travel restriction, sky-high price of masks, rush on toilet paper; meetings, lectures, and shopping all took place at home. The new life experiences have become source of inspiration for art creation. When reality is more absurd than imagination, unconventional ideas are no longer considered to be ridiculous, this would have become light at the end of the tunnel for artists.
Culturing also carries the connotation of self-cultivation. In a difficult situation, the explosive power of man is unimaginable. In the past two years, the stillness during the predicament has provided us serenity to examine the diversity of things, to see from different perspectives and to think about the cause and the impact more thoroughly, the observation has become more multidimensional. When we have adopted to the new mode of life, enormity of the pandemic has become a norm, the solitude time for thinking that used to be luxurious has become abundant. When the world is receding, we realize who we are at this moment of time, where we stand, who and what we care about. The thinking process is a solitude dialogue with oneself, and it is also a canoe to help the artists sailing through the sea of suffering.
I wonder if you are a seed that has grown or you are still sprouting.
From 2021, looking back at the journey in the past two or three years that you have reached here, you would have realized some of the time and space is lost, some have been stolen, your mind and body are both exhausted, the surrounding is hazy and time is torn. This also proves that you have grown. Considering the situation, you should have grown less but the fact is you have grown fuller. There were less real classes, you didn’t have the chance to go to exhibitions, but your brains and hands have not paused as the world did. In consideration with the relationship of oneself and the society, the symbiosis between human beings and others, we cherish the ordinariness in the past. Breathe away the differences of the new norm with courage, perhaps you have transformed into new species of seeds, strong and resilient. As such I believe you are ready.
Having been teaching at the Hong Kong Art School (HKAS) for a decade, I have witnessed the devotion and hard work of the art students in their studies; constantly pursuing their ideals to satisfy the endless curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Every year, graduates are all excited for the graduation exhibition and to finally become artists after graduation. From another perspective, the graduation exhibition is also a farewell to the nurturing environment of the school and the graduates to go on their ways.
In fact from my experiences, the students are never cut off from the school after graduation. The school hopes to keep in touch with the graduates, and to provide internships as well as opportunities for collaboration to assist the graduates during their first few years as emerging artists.
Through participation in art projects and activities organized by the school, for instance, for more than ten years, the Gallery of Hong Kong Art School has provided a platform for the alumni to transpire from their art studies to the art world. At the same time HKAS has participated in the Fine Art Asia art fair for many years and has invited more than 50 alumni to take part in the event. In addition, alumni are encouraged to reach out to the community through participation of various art projects, they were involved in the planning, execution or acting as mentors in art education projects organized by HKAS. Through these art activities, HKAS provides opportunities for practical experience, which contributes remarkably to the alumni in their artistic development.
Learning is an important foundation for one’s self-development. Studying in the school allows students to build a solid steppingstone and provide a direction for future development. The only way to determine how far the graduates can go in the art field depends on their endurance and persistence. Try hard, explore more, and aim high for the ideals.
The Alumni Network, the alumni association of HKAS,was established in recent years. It connects alumni together and establishes a platform for collaboration and support between alumni. The Alumni Network encourages interaction between the alumni and the public; it is also a bridge between alumni and the Hong Kong Art School.
Graduation signifies the milestone of a learning phase.
For this work, I sat down and forced myself to eat 6 packets of instant noodles in Kimchi Ramen flavour. Here today, you can see a video of that performance and documentation of related performances in which, wearing an assortment of fabulous outfits, I vomit up the ramen and finally clean up the ramen. I wanted to really understand all the ways I perform my identity, who I perform for, why I started and what would be left of me if the performances stopped.
Childhood will always have a special place in our heart. With the passage of time, there is transience depicted with recollections, gaps or faded memory, traces, and layers. Imagine going back to our roots and finding that spark that inspired us in the first place. It may recall the beautiful strangeness of youth.
In this series of works, I depicted the scenes and memories from my childhood and things that were emotionally and physically significant to me, using childhood imagery to express the longing for being innocent, simple and pure.
The project is based on the personal modeling experience of the artist. As a real life commercial model, has determined to reveal the contradictions between fantasy and reality in the modelling industry to the audience through photographs and performance. This not only revealed the unknown side of the modeling industry to the public but also the most vulnerable side of the artist. She describes herself as SOULLESS when she is a model. She believes that everyone is their own author of their lives.
24/7 body rental
59 x 42 cm
24/7 body rental
2020
Photograph 59 x 42 cm
Chu Chun Kei Maggie 朱頌琪
Barren Rock is an investigation of a city being represented as a barren rock, drawing from images in postcards representing Hong Kong from the 1840s to present. Cutting off content of the city from its setting, the place is returned to the original state of the “barren rock”, a phrase that originates from the 19th century used to describe the deficiency of Hong Kong Island. The rationale for examining these ideas is to explore the identity of a place in the situation of displacement.
The intelligence of animals is revealed in their interactions with humans. Sometimes, you seem to know what they are thinking and saying. At that moment, we are connected. This is a non-verbal, cross-species connection, which touches me most.
Graphite, marker, screentone on paper 25 x 25cm each, set of 12
The moment we connect.
The moment we connect.
Graphite, marker, screentone on paper
25 x 25cm each, set of 12
Graphite, marker, screentone on paper
25 x 25cm each, set of 12
Hau Wing Yin
Helena 侯穎賢
5412 2791
helenahau@yahoo.com
wy.hau
Coated with lacquer, the tissue paper is tender and tenacious like skin. In the flow of time and air, lacquer and tissue paper dried and oxidised under the right temperature and time, turning the ivory colour into a shade of dark brown. Deeply bonded with the linen cloth, it seems to be like a piece of shroud. When you come closer, the delicate texture and the fibre of the linen can be vaguely seen, reminding you a cocoon or a shell of cicada.
Under the light, a beam of red glows softly beneath the dark brown, yet there is no way to know if it is the light of death or reborng.
Chinese Lacquer, Linen, Tissue Stand: 47 x 39 x 76cm Hang: 47 x 39 x 105cm
Untitled
2021
Chinese Lacquer, Linen, Tissue Stand: 47 x 39 x 76cm
Hang: 47 x 39 x 105cm
Lai Cheuk Hei
Cherie 黎芍希
9167 6979
lchc8912@gmail.com
A year, four seasons
I have collected three hundred and sixty-five days of memories
With important people, events, objects
These will stay in the deepest part of my memory
I can see the small flowers and grasses on the side of the road
Their color, taste
Unimportant, yet became my comfort
一年，四季
我收藏了三百六十五天的回憶
有重要的人、事、物
這些都會留在我記憶的深處
看到了路邊不起眼的小花小草
他們的色彩，味道
不重要，卻成為了我的慰藉
Unimportant walks, June
2020
Painting collage on canvas
90 x 45cm
ch._cherie
Saatchi Art, Cherie Lai
Unimportant walks, July
2020
Painting collage on canvas
90 x 45cm
Unimportant walks, August
2020
Painting collage on canvas
90 x 45cm
Lam Hiu Yan
6629 6454
gracelamlhy@gmail.com
mewe.com/i/gracelam42
GraceLamlhy
gracelecarg
This is a set of works without proposition
They are just an ordinary piece of wood, form and line
It's like you surveying a landscape
A momentary sunset
That light and shadow
Of course you can name them
But I think it is unnecessary
Untitled #7
2020
Black wire, gray wire, silver wire, charcoal on abandoned MDF board
66.7 x 67.8 x 8.8cm
這是一組沒有命題的作品，
因為他們只是普通的木
普通的塊面
和普通的線
就像你凝視著的那幀風景
那短暫的一片夕陽
那幕的光與影
當然你可以為他們命名
但我認為這是無必要的
Untitled #4
Abandoned stainless steel, wire, carbonized abandoned plywood, L hook, nail 21.5 x 7.5 x 8cm
Untitled #3
Wire, aluminium sheet, carbonized abandoned plywood, mirror 6.4 x 13.5 x 3.4cm
Leung Po Ying Agnes 梁寶瀛
5107 6446
lipysimpsonnew@gmail.com
send_mos_stick
Naked creatures wander at midnight.
The creatures walk with their naked feet in the midnight.
This series of works recorded those creatures’ posture, countenance and things they wanted to tell me.
深夜裡赤著腳行走的百鬼
百鬼們總在深夜裡赤着雙腳，咔咔嗒嗒的走出來。
在這份作品中，我記錄了每隻百鬼在深夜裡走出來的姿態、表情及想對我說的話。
Everglow
Everybody wants to rule the world
2020
Acrylic on rice paper
140 x 72cm
Dunk
2020
Soft pastel and charcoal on craft paper
55 x 25cm
Ma Hiu Tung
Joey
馬曉彤
6054 4970
ma.joey0@gmail.com
joey_htm
Where the behavior of one individual becomes the behavior of the society, the crowd mass forms an organism that transforms the environment. It pushes against mentalities and sets moral boundaries.
Today we do not have to decide the boundaries. The boundaries are decided for us. In this moment, even though the crowds have dispersed, I will always look to the dense crowds as a source of motivation and determination.
In this project, I have stubbornly focused on the industrial material of cement. Stubborn describes my use of the material even when it is unyielding, brittle, heavy and dusty. In its own way, it has lent part of its properties to the work. The cement becomes symbolic not only of a city whose roads are 100% paved, but also of the heat, the tears and sweat it has absorbed.
There are multiple ways that we construct identities for ourselves but the nature of this construction becomes more visceral when we live in a country other than the one we were raised in.
As a Filipino living in Hong Kong, I find myself in a constant tussle, attempting to ‘connect’ and achieve some sense of harmony and cohesion, whilst battling cultural and spiritual isolation.
My installation Fragmented Hum (2020) grapples with these issues. Made up of a sculpture, the work takes the form of a shelter that speaks of home, community and protection.
Taking the Filipino concept of ‘Bayanihan’ which refers to the spirit of communal unity, an exploration of openness and generosity as well as familial dispersal. The low-level, solemn hum that emanates from the shelter is a sound work that incorporates elements of Charlie Smalls’ evocative and nostalgic song Home, from the 1970s musical Wiz.
Fragmented Harmony (2020) is a performance piece in which I use my body to communicate a sense of isolation, introspection and continuous movement, winding my way through, under and around the shelter. Forever searching for a sense of belonging.
Everyone does not know how to express and how to release their own negative energy, and my work is a space for expressing one's own emotions. In a space of one's own, one can truly regain their true self.
I have always tried to capture the impression and mood of Hong Kong, the city where I was born in, especially at night. I enjoy the feeling of walking alone in the urban city at night after a long day’s work. At those nights when I felt the pressure of life after work, I would walk slowly in the city with no specific purpose. Messages emerged while I saw signals with connotations that I did not notice in the day time. This city is like an intimate friend whom I had deep conversations with as I walked and walked.
My paintings are inspired by the environment and the mode of living. I am exploring the relationship between people and the nighttime city. To me, night walking is a spiritual and wearing process that is like a personal dialogue that builds bonding with the city. Dark nights are always poetic and seductive. Neon lights interweave with traffic lights reflecting the emotional linkage between pedestrians and the city. Signals and lights emerge in the darkness. The strong contrast of light and shade at night are subjective and personal messages conveyed by familiar urban sceneries. Inspired by my own life experience, all the sceneries depicted in my paintings are to visualize my impression and complex perception of the city. The boundary between reality and surrealistic dream becomes blurred in the illusion of dim lamp light.
Suiting myself inside this place, it feels familiar and blurry, just like daily life; nothing special but those tiny traces left by daily life, the connection between a family and those little thoughts.
Growing up here, having a unique feeling and bond attaches to this place. The idea of this artwork is based on the home settings from old Hong Kong movies. Indirectly expressing the objects in the home but turning the personal emotions and connections into memories, hiding it there and thinking a step further, in this place what we have after losing all those memories.
Once upon a time, there was always a sewing machine and a favorite childhood dress at home, but it disappeared somehow. My research engages with ideas of rewinding the making process of my 3-year old girl dress as a vehicle to restore fading memories and reveal the relationship between mother and daughter.
By collage paper patterns, scrap papers dyed with Chinese black ink, sewing tools, found sewing machine parts and leftover thread, I create new forms and images. I initiate material and physicality that articulates memories and reality, internalized and conditioned, faded and retained, sadness and happiness, and life and death. Through the dress making process, it embodies familial relationships and emotional attachment that crafts a journey of self-exploration.
My life is somehow surrounded by sorrow because of the fact that I have lost contact with my father since I was a kid. I thought that I would forget about this when I grow older, but it is exactly the opposite.
The series of works Reconstruction of My Childhood allows the conversation between I and my soul by recalling and discussing my childhood memories, achieving selfrealization.
The works are formed by pieces of cut-outs, posing as my memories – I have to collect them from here and there. The cut-outs, which are transformed from 2D to 3D, are like the possession I can hold in my hands, representing the love of my parents. The way of arranging them is rather playful because I believe that as I really grow, I am able to treat sorrow as a meaningful life experience.
Reconstruction of Childhood 重組童年
2021
Charcoal, soft pastel and oil pastel on paper Dimensions variable
The background of the work is my personal story. It is also an emotional expression.
The image of the shy plant has two patterns: Opening and Closing. In addition, the shy plant symbolizes psychological states.
Medical records on paper in the old days influence something in silence. The abstract shape is my posture of walking. No escape, just show.
The blue colour, the dusky light, the repeating patterns, the light materials: all these are to create an atmosphere. It also allows the audience to imagine on their own and feel what kind of atmosphere it is.
Shy Plant 2020
Cyanotype on rice paper with thread, plastic 4 pieces, dimensions variable
Playground, as imagination of Fiction and Reality by narrative of childhood memories, presenting the happenings in culture and society that draw on themes of when emotional pressure was increasingly becoming spiritually traumatic, so to creating an illusion, questioning the truth and fake. There, the installation is a possible way to invite the audience to interact inside the works. The creation and imagination gives us a moment to leave the living.
The subjects of the works are contextualised with Zen Buddhist Philosophy "no self (non-self)", " zero-time and zero-space", and “An Integrated Time and Space”, pushing the boundaries of presence and absence of the symbols to signify in. I am thinking of the disintegration of the body, and the soul separation, from self to non-self, becoming the universe.
Landscape of the works fantasy
The real surrounding as Sea
Playground as Island Lighting as Waterfall Mirror as Heart
Gauzes like tender skin
Merry-go-round goes round and round it turns, imagination as the rhyme of Revolving lantern (走馬燈)
Restricted (禁) is a series of mixed media photography artwork that talks about the Hong Kong situation. This artwork has double implications with sexual and politics layers because of the sensitive nature nowadays in Hong Kong. I combine them together to voice out and express my feelings of freedom.
The sexual symbols surface to bring out the deepest part of politics. All the materials have a similar element: reflections, which like the camera lens reflect our view and present it to the audience. Also, the major element in this artwork is mirrors because I believe that they can reflect the desire or the truth about ourselves, not just to show our surface only. So when the audience is looking at the artwork, they can have the experience of ‘reflection time’.
Turbulence is my current answer to the ongoing journey to realise my identity.
Throughout the last few years, I have not been able to settle with my Chinese and Japanese nationalities. Though I call Hong Kong my home, I continue to experience instability with where I belong. I describe it as an ungroundedness.
By tracing my own footsteps, along with digging through the depths of history between Hong Kong and Japan, I attempt to piece my dual identities together and present it in tangible forms. I intervene with locations where I previously made the first strides into my self-discovery, and where those who came before me fought in The Battle of Hong Kong during World War II. Turbulence is not my final stop; as the title of my work suggests, I am experiencing difficulties and have yet to land on a concrete answer to who I am.
Sisyphus Metropolis is inspired by The Myth of Sisyphus, a book by philosopher Albert Camus.
The images are completed with consistent methodology: recording parts of the city during day and night separately with a shift-telephoto lens. Stitching them together in post-production to create a tele-wide perspective, a surreal representation of the city was made.
As a whole, the series is about the human condition of the urbanites, visualizing the twisted relationship between people and the city including the dilemmas that came with it, thus attempting to respond to it with existential philosophy. However, at the same time each image are individual self-contained pieces.
Archival Inkjet print on Baryta paper mounted on Dibond 145 x 175cm
The monuments
Duratran print on bespoke lightbox
150 x 115cm
Lung Wo Road (2019)
龍和道 (2019)
2020
Archival Inkjet print on Baryta paper mounted on Dibond
145 x 175cm
Pater
Ho
何永良
9268 7740
paterho8@gmail.com
paterho.com
pater.ho
“Some people can see better in the dark than with daylight. Likewise this is true for animals like cats, owls and possums which are known for night vision.”
In this series, photographs were taken at various times of the night including the small hours before dawn. Whilst in the dark, we tend to be more focused and mindful of things that are present or absent which we might otherwise overlook in daylight.
To share with the people seeking light in the dark.
「相比起白晝，有人在漆黑中視覺更敏銳；就像能夜視的貓、貓頭鷹和袋貂。」
作品的主題講述存在和不存在的事物，以及我們可能忽略的事。
回首向來蕭瑟處，期盼與黑暗中尋找光明的人共勉。
In the Dark II
2020
UV inkjet print on aluminium composite panel
In the Dark II
2020
UV inkjet print on archival paper, framed 30 x 30 cm, set of 5+1
In the Dark II
2020
UV inkjet print on aluminium composite panel 115 x 57.5 cm, set of 5+1
Tsang Chiu Ki
Kiesly 曾昭琦
kieslytsangchiuki@gmail.com
www.kieslytsang.com
kieslytsang
An installation setup mimics a maze with four sets of photographs that examine the first-hand experience of phenomenon and wonderment of life.
By questioning the mysterious phenomenon before surrender, I investigated the strange parallel timeline of The Earth, starting from philosophy, Freudian, science, mathematics and back to myth. Over exclusion methods in my photography practice aim to find the essence and relationship that belongs to space and moment, to represent yet question the norm.
How do we come to know? Can we perceive the world with our intuition and first experience rather than knowledge?
“Controlled” and “uncontrolled” seem to be opposites; however, the two are inextricably linked. Furthermore, their definition depends on our angle and perspective. Under a “controlled” situation, an artist treats their materials as tools to realize their vision. However, under an “uncontrolled” situation, the artist lets the material’s qualities speak for itself and create its own shapes, patterns, and colors. The uncontrolled reflects the vitality and uniqueness of the material, as if it was talking on its own.
My artwork combines elements of controlled and uncontrolled. First, I use Japanese Nerikomi to create a completely controlled pattern. Then I use different ways to introduce uncontrolled elements. During firing, the material will act on its own accord and create a new artwork on the original Nerikomi pattern.
Living in lockdown for several months prompted me to focus on the space around me. I subconsciously started to explore it through a practice of throwing pieces of clay.
For me, throwing clay is a kind of symbolic spatial practice. This became a daily ritual. It allowed my wandering soul to communicate with the space around me, which eventually became a form of art.
When throwing, I was all contained herein. Through the spatial practice, the work aims to redefine the physical relations between space and body, entails a new experience of space and reconceptualize the body.
Life is a journey in time, which accumulates one’s doing and being in every moment.
The achievements in the past may affect one’s future development. Yet, the deeds in the present may cover up or conceal the old ones.
Death marks the end of the journey of life and also concludes the achievements of life. In my belief, memories of the forgotten deeds of the dead will be recalled in the minds of the alive. Those deeds will be reviewed and re-evaluated.
I intend to take clay as an allusion to human. The crafts denote the deeds at different stages of life. I also take immersion as a suggestion to dying – a process to reveal, reconstruct, and transform lives. The sound emitted during the process invites us to anticipate this uncertain journey.
My work is about having a progressive conversation with fire. I built a kiln using refractory bricks and conducted each firing by myself. For every firing, I have added different materials into the kiln to create different atmospheres and hoped the clay will open up a dialogue with fire. This crude firing process excites me as I am in awe of its power and beauty. I dug up raw clay from a nearby field and cast it into bricklike-objects. A new brick is added to the kiln each time it is fired, and the traces of the firings will accumulate on the surface of these bricks. These marks also reflect changes in temperature and atmosphere inside the kiln in unexpected ways. It is the fire that determines the surface of the work. The whole process provided an outlet for my deep feelings for nature, the environment, and the human interaction.
A broom handmade with natural material is an everyday object when my mother was living in a small village. Rather than cleaning tools, a straw broom is also a ritual object used to clean and heal people’s souls.
Deep in my mind, clean and dirty is like right and wrong. Like a pure white dress, without any stain. What does a spotless spirit look like? Is it possible to keep our mind untainted after facing so much trauma and sadness in our daily life?
Making defects more apparent instead of removing them is a way to release from trauma.
When the clay broom swept throughout the whole body, it was suffering and releasing occurring simultaneously. It is a tool to experience peace and comfort when the body and spirit are dragging each other. Looking back, the traces left by the experience have become a kind of indifferent beauty.
In this series of work, 20 ceramics objects were firstly printed from the same 3D model. The artist then created parts that interact or cohere with the printed objects, as well to change their physical properties after observing and studying the objects. Compositing has become a way for the artist to intervene and gain back control in the progress of ceramics making, which has been dominated by the machine.
Chinese calligraphy requires a huge amount of focus as it is a very detail-oriented practice. It requires patience, perseverance and strong attention. Besides, Chinese calligraphy literally means “beautiful writing”, like a well-choreographed dance that balances beauty and order.
To appreciate the aesthetics and wish to depict such beauty in ceramics, I practise with porcelain slip on paper to accumulate the words. When the words are accumulated and removed, they leave remarkable marks on the wrinkled paper. The reaction between paper and slip is fascinating and diversified.
Then the wrinkled paper is coated with porcelain slip for firing. The transformation process is delicate and subtle to capture the strength of calligraphy in the wrinkled paper. It is also another way of learning and appreciating the attitude of Chinese calligraphy.
For some concepts about religion, I often learn them indirectly from products of popular culture. Modern people without religious beliefs may have the same experience; that is, they feel religious consciousness but also think that they do not belong to any religion.
Myths often explained that humans lived in plans written by some superior deities. It is these plans that make life meaningful. Today, myths still exist in different forms. For example, with technology's help, people reshape the concepts and content of myths and adapt them to comics, novels, and video games.
This series of work uses the animations and games that I loved when I was small as the source of materials. Toy parts are moulded and cast into treated ceramic to suggest an impression of antiquity. They are combined with throwing and hand building, stamping a mark of my memory and imagination. This series aims to mix reality with animations and video games' virtual experience, weaving a role-playing game for myself.
2020 Stoneware clay, color slip, glaze 32 x 24 x 3cm
TKOB-26YRS-OBJs #612 (series)
TKOB-26YRS-OBJs #721 (series) 2020
Stoneware clay, color slip 18 x 14 x 6cm
TKOB-26YRS-OBJs #831 (series)
Stoneware clay, color slip, glaze 39 x 18 x 18cm
Yung Chun Kit
翁振傑
9060 7266
lht031033@gmail.com
yungchunkit
Through the process of finding packing boxes in daily life, traces of it being used could be found. Decorations were being removed through the process of mould making and slip casting, leaving the form, traces on the surface and enlarging the small details that were originally difficult to be observed. The objects become a pure essence.
The process of searching and mould making enhances the sensitivity of the body, which then becomes a bodily experience.
2017 Scents of Life Contemporary Jewellery x Wearable Object Show
Arts Cowork, Hong Kong
Artisens Wearable Objects Exhibition
Artisens Studio, Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, Hong Kong
Hong Kong Art School Art Fair' 15
10/F Gallery, Hong Kong Art School, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
2015 Art Hawker – Mobile Exhibition
Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong
2015 Book in Time書語有時 -
Hong Kong Book Art Festival 2015
Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, Hong Kong
Art School Art Fair' 14"
Hong Kong Art School Art Fair' 13"
Experimental Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
2012 Hong Kong Art School Art Fair' 12"
Experimental Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
2011 Hong Kong Art School Art Fair' 11"
Experimental Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
2007 Dialogue an art exhibition
White Tube, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Lam Yuk Kit
Kitty 林鈺潔
Education
2021
RMIT University
2018 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Higher Diploma in Fine Art
Hong Kong Art School
2016 Higher Diploma in Interior Design
HKU Space Community College
Masahiro Nakamura
葉政宏
Education
2021 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Ng Kai Fung
Fung 吳啟峰
Education
2021
Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
2017
Higher Diploma in Fine Art
Hong Kong Art School
Exhibition
2021 The Biennale Countless Cities 2021
Fram Cultural Park, Italy
2020
我___城/Wall___Sink
Lumenvisum, JCCAC, Hong Kong
2017 悟
Hong Kong Art School
Pater Ho
Education
2021 2018 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University (Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Higher Diploma in Fine Art
Hong Kong Art School
Exhibition
2019 The 3rd Shenzhen International Photography
Exhibition (Nanshan District Parallel Event)
Shenzhen, China
Award
2018 Outstanding Artwork (Photography)
Hong Kong Art School
Tsang Chiu Ki
Kiesly
曾昭琦
Education
2021 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Exhibition RE Hong Kong
IRO & KIESLY TSANG, SS2019 Hong Kong
2019 FRAGMENTATION
Hong Kong
Award
2020 Reaching Out Award Education Bureau
Ceramic
Cheng Lai Fong
Alice 鄭麗芳
Education
RMIT University
Exhibition
2020 2020 Seal Tight
Mudheytong Gallery, Hong Kong
T-Plan
TNT Contemporary Art Gallery, Shen Zhen, China
2019 Dream Exhibition
Pao Gallery, Hong Kong
2021 2018 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Higher Diploma in Fine Art
Hong Kong Art School
Exhibition
2020 2018 保鮮
Hong Kong Art School ⾒
Hong Kong Art School
2016 Clay in Clay
Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre
Huang Hai Ying
Enya 黄海英
Education
2021 2005 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Peking University Master of Business
Administration
Others
2018 Co-curator -Poul “解”
M Gallery, Shen Zhen, China
洪志娟 Hung Chi Kuen
Cheryl
Education
2021 2018 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University (Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Doctor of Worship Studies
The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, FL
Exhibition
2020 Seal Tight
Mudheytong Gallery, Hong Kong
Education
RMIT University
2021 2018 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Higher Diploma in Fine Art
Hong Kong Art School
Exhibition
2020 2018 Seal Tight
Mudheytong Gallery, Hong Kong
⾒
Hong Kong Art School
莫鎧靖 Mok Hoi Ching
Education
2021 2017 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Associate in Creative and Interactive Media
Production
City University of Hong Kong
2014 Sha Tin Methodist College
Exhibition
2020 Seal Tight
Mudheytong Gallery, Hong Kong
Leung Ching Man
Education
2021 2010 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Higher Diploma in Fine Art
Hong Kong Art School
Exhibition
2020 Seal Tight
Mudheytong Gallery, Hong Kong
Award
2010 Best Artwork
Hong Kong Art School
Sandro Tse
謝惠玲
Education
2021 2009 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University (Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Masters in Practical Philosophy
Lingnan University, Hong Kong
1997 Bachelor of Arts (Design Marketing)
Teesside University, UK
Exhibition
2020 Seal Tight
Mudheytong Gallery, Hong Kong
Calis 梁程萬
Education
RMIT University
2021 2018 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
(Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Higher Diploma in Fine Art
Hong Kong Art School
2013 Foundation Certificate in Hospitality Industry
Exhibition
2020 Carving into the Forest Forest Round Round, Hong Kong
VTC Hospitality Industry Training and Development Centre 2020
Seal Tight
Mudheytong Gallery, Hong Kong
2018 ⾒
Hong Kong Art School
Hong Kong Art School
2021 ARCHAEOLOGY IN RPG vol.1
Yrellag Gallery, Hong Kong
2021 2021 TKOB-24-25YRS-OBJs Mist Gallery, Hong Kong
Excellent Presentation Award
Hong Kong Art School
2017 Outstanding Performance Scholarship
Hong Kong Art School
Yung Chun Kit
2018 FRANZ Rising Star Scholarship
FRANZ Rising Star Project
2021 2018 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art)
RMIT University (Pr ogramme co-presented with Hong Kong Art School)
Higher Diploma in Fine Art
Hong Kong Art School
Exhibition
Seal Tight
Mudheytong Gallery, Hong Kong
2018 ⾒
Hong Kong Art School
悟 Hong Kong Art School
2018 Excellent Presentation Award
Hong Kong Art School
Outstanding Award (Ceramics)
Hong Kong Art School
2017 Outstanding Award (Sculpture)
Hong Kong Art School
Acknowledgements
嗚謝
Chu Zi Wei
Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) Graduate Exhibition Committee 2021
Chairman
With all the sudden changes to our everyday lives, we have experienced a bizarre school life in these past two years. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to adjust to studying art online. Sitting by ourselves in front of screens, we missed the times where we could engage with one another. In spite of this, we continue to pursue art making with passion and belief. The title of this year’s exhibition, Culturing, aptly describes how we have cultured art in today’s controlled, bacteriafilled environment. The adversities we face in life will make us better!
A million thanks to all the teachers and instructors from Hong Kong Art School and RMIT. Under the many limitations of social distancing, they still continued to teach us wholeheartedly and guided us through this difficult time.
Many thanks to the committee who, in these hard times, have unconditionally gave a lot of time and effort to coordinating this exhibition, and thanks to all fellow graduates for pitching in and helping each other. We wouldn’t be where we are in this exhibition without you! A big thank you!
Last but not least, our deepest gratitude to the staff of the Hong Kong Art School and our sponsors for their generous support.
Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the entries in this publication, the producers of the publication take no responsibility for any inaccuracies of omissions that might occur herein any possible consequences that might arise the inaccuracies of omissions.
