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Paper-cut art in Southside
Artist: Lau Ming-Hang
Artist: Lee Huan-Chang
Cheyelene Fontanilla reports on the Paper Cut Art Exhibition in Repulse Bay
art to new generations. Wuba Yang is another artist whose work really adds another dimension to this exhibit. Her pieces stretch beyond traditional papercut patterns. Inspired by Taiwanese ferns since 2017, she chose paper to depict a variety of Taiwan’s common and unique ferns. With her expert use of color and textures, Yang’s paper ferns come to life in their threedimensional forms, creating bold silhouettes that are expressed by the shape of the ferns’ veins. Lau Ming-Hang’s work adds a new factor to paper-cutting: he creates threedimensional storybook theaters with hollow spaces to capture light and shadow, giving the viewers a fresh perspective to this art form. His creations are composed of cutout Chinese words connecting to form a 3D cluster. The cluster and lighting link to display a lively presentation. As a graduate in sculpting, Meko Cheng’s creative medium is paper because she is fascinated by its intricacy. She explores the tension of materials in her works through the series of “heavy and light” and “pull and release”. Chen Yan-Ting, another featured artist at this exhibit, reinterprets traditional paper cut art. Centered around traditional paper cutting, Chen’s modern designs explore similarities and differences between Western and Eastern art forms, creating a unique visual experience, and extends to fashion brand design. Western concept of design influenced Lee Keng-Chun to refine the beauty of Eastern culture, applying contrasting colors of paper
and multilayer patterns to present motifs through paper cut. Western fairy tales are incorporated into his works with the layers highlighting the features and storylines. Lee Keng-Chun takes paper-cutting as the focus of his research, hoping to spread his enthusiasm and love for paper-cutting. To learn more about this exquisite artform that is rich in heritage and cultural significance, visit artspacek.org.
Paper Cut Art Exhibition (until February 13, 2022) Address: Artspace K, G105–106, The Repulse Bay Arcade, Opening hours: 11.00am-7.00pm 2898 8118 k@artspacek.org
Artist: Li Yun-Xia
On the ground floor of The Repulse Bay Arcade is a special showcase of an artform dubbed one of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO. “Paper·Cut” is an art exhibition that features seven well-known and emerging artists. Combining traditional and modern forms of paper cutting, this folk art, also known as Jianzhi, was once a pastime for generations of women. Having appeared during the Han dynasty in fourth century AD, it became a widespread tradition that women had to inherit and pass on to the next generation. With intricate lines and complex patterns that play with symmetry, shadows and negative space, paper-cutting works were typically created for special events and festivals in those days. Now, it still holds the power to influence and educate the generations that have followed all these centuries later. In this exhibition, Southsiders have a chance to peek behind the curtain of a wonderfully unique and historically significant genre of art. As conservationists of traditional paper cutting, Li Yun-Xia, and Lee Huan-Chang, two featured artists in this exhibition, have created works that reflect the rich Chinese cultural context of paper cutting and its classical beauty. A rich style was achieved through an interplay between paper of different colors and textures, thick and thin lines and carved patterns of yin and yang. Li Yun-Xia is one of the most important preservationists of this precious art form, while Lee Huan-Chang, who passed away at the age of 90 in 2015, created a legacy and passed on this timeless
SOUTHSIDE | 13
5 SS 5min local.indd 13
25/11/2021 4:04 PM
