Art Portfolio

Singapore

Oil on canvas, 90 (W) x 120 (H) cm, 2014. A whimsical representation of the two years observing how the city of Singapore built its self-contained ecosystem connecting the social, cultural and economical development. An informal discussion was held during the exhibition of the artwork with the locals to discuss what they saw from the painting and how it related to their experience growing up in the city.

Dream

Oil on canvas, 45 (W) x 60 (H) cm, 2014. A symbolic representation of the midway journey and struggle in realising big visions, addressing the concern how the mainstream media often paid attention to only the successful outcome in the result-oriented culture in part of the Asian communities.

Nails

Oil on canvas, 84 (W) x 60 (H) cm, 2018. An interpretation of the irresistible urge and guilt survived between anxiety disorder and two decades of oral compulsive habit.

4. Origami

Oil on canvas, 90 (W) x 120 (H) cm, 2018. The relationship between paper and water which illustrated the current social and political instability in the city of Hong Kong and the decline of its ‘One country, two systems’ framework established between itself and the mainland China, and provided an alternate reform to ‘using eggs against the high walls’.

Buying Time

Oil on canvas, 70 (W) x 80 (H) cm, 2015. Occupy Central, also known as The Umbrella Movement, was a request for universal suffrage from the citizens of Hong Kong, took place in September 2014. The artwork Occupy Central, also known as The Umbrella Movement, was a request for universal suffrage from the citizens of Hong Kong, took place in September 2014. The artwork expressed how the political reform connected with the city's culture in the 21st century and highlighted the divided society observed during the movement, in the perspective of a participant and activist of the movement.

6. If

Oil on canvas, 70 (W) x 80 (H) cm, 2015. Faceless children imposed the questions onto the viewers about their upbringings, creating space for viewers to fill up the intended emotions, and challenged how the spoon-fed education system and social environment in the city omitted the promotion of originality and critical thinking.

Window to the World

Oil and acrylic on canvas, 90 (W) x 60 (H) cm, 2014. A practical yet ironic outsider-view watching one of the burning world issues on water sanitation happening, as a customer sitting inside a coffee shop on a rainy day. The artwork was shortlisted as part of a charity initiative to raise fund to bring clean water and sanitation to Tanzania in Africa, and other coffee-making communities.

Cat's Cradle

Oil on canvas, 30 (W) x 40 (H) cm, 2016. An exploration of what Ethical Banking means in today’s world, and in particular how the financial industry impact the domestic helpers, the ignored population, working and living in Hong Kong. The relationship, power and dependability between key stakeholders were examined. The painting examined the inflexible power struggle between the bankers and the disadvantaged group. A collaborative project with an ex-banker who shared the same concern over the unhealthy evolution of the financial system.

Self Portrait

Installation, thick cotton threads and aluminium rods with plastic connectors, 100 (W) x 110 (H) x 35 (D) cm, and its performance, 2018. Installation, thick cotton threads and aluminium rods with plastic connectors, 100 (W) x 110 (H) x 35 (D) cm, and its performance, 2018 The knitting process was a portrayal of self examining how thoughts and emotions were interlinked within the human body, followed by a performance of putting on the armour of thoughts and eventually letting the armour go. Audience from the exhibition showing this artwork was invited to ‘wear’ the amour in their own way as a process to penetrate into and integrate with the thoughts.

Idea

Canvas, strings, acrylic paint on wooden panel, 150 (W) x 150 (H) x 5 (D) cm, 2018. An installation art which examined the history of Hong Kong by recording the creative evolution of the old harbour in the Kwai Tsing District. Each crumpled canvas contain and idea to develop the community into its best. This artwork was situated in the Tsing Yi Promenade, looking over the Kwai Chung Container Port, witnessing the growth of the city into an international hub since 1970.

Contained

Clay, 8 (W) x 10 (H) x 4 (D) cm, 2018. A response made towards the teaching of expressive art for a 7-year-old girl, who was considered by the class teacher as the ‘good one’ and was placed in the student group with special education needs because ‘she could neutralise the group dynamic’. The clay work examined how she contained her thoughts and behaviors perfectly during art making activities throughout 10 weeks.

Dependency

Clay, 13 (W) x 8 (H) x 4 (D) cm, 2018. A response made towards the teaching of expressive art for a group of eight 8-year-old girls, who saw the weekly workshop as their ‘exit’ to express freely beyond the conventional rules as free expression was usually not encouraged in local schools. The clay work explored the dependency of students on the art facilitator in opening up themselves.

Exhibition - Dialogue in Art, Hong Kong University and Science Technology, Hong Kong, 2018

Dialogue in Art, was a social art practice using a series of community-based activities to promote authentic expression and communication through the process of art making, in a non-judgemental environment. This exhibition encouraged alumnae from the university to initiate a conversation with passer-by, using memo paper to post a question or comment around the artwork which they could relate to. Examples of responses captured were ‘suffocating’ and ‘where is the stress from?’. The ten artwork on display examined the connection of emotions in the socio-cultural context. The use of oil painting, a relatively inaccessible form of art in terms of financial investment and knowledge, highlighted how people’s perceptions and bias were shaped by our system, and contrasted with the relatable emotions shared by everyone in the community despite their status. The ‘disconnected’ red barrier ropes were symbolic invitations for audience to interact with the artwork.

Community art-making space - Dialogue in Art, Hong Kong 2018

An extension of the social art practice, Dialogue in Art, with an aim to provide a safe, non-judgemental and stress-free space for members of the community to reflect, express and understand self through the process of art making. The session was done in individual basis to minimise distraction and maximise the quality attention the art facilitator could give to the participant. Passer-by could also choose to join the ‘Letter to a Stranger’, where they put a piece of drawing in the mailbox attached outside the storefront to ‘write’ about an emotional experience, followed by the artist response to them in drawing, to experience the flexibility of non-verbal communication. They were reminded that there was no right or wrong in how they drew, and it did not matter if they could draw very well or finish the artwork. This physical space was situated in a youth-oriented square in Hong Kong, designed to be inviting and comfortable, for example, shoes were taken off before making art.

External Installation Art and Community Art Collaboration - The Local Palate, Singapore, 2016

Involving 200 citizens of the Telok Kurau community in Singapore to engage in the making of 100 canvases, telling the stories of how the Singaporean local cuisine and food culture shaped their lives. This piece of installation art was installed on the walls of two public housing buildings, opposite to the infamous local hawker centers, with the objective to respond to the valued part of the culture and make the creation of art accessible to the local community.

Expressive art workshops, Singapore and Hong Kong, 2014-2018

A series of process-based art workshops took place in the community with the mission to inspire a wide range of audience, from kindergarten children to professionals, on how to use colours and patterns to express how we felt, and create art without the need to ‘make it real’ or ‘make it beautiful’. Examples of subjects examined included communication styles at workplace, relationship with parents, and emotional response to traditions etc.

Public Collaborative Art - Ready to Dance for the First Time, Hong Kong, 2017

A community collaboration to invite the public to participate in the exploration of various emotions toward trying something new for the first time, with an objective to benefit more grassroots families without the economic access to the ‘art world’, and promote ‘art as therapy’ in the city which still found the concept a stranger. 60 families participated in this artwork along the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. This initiative targeted to include the parents and brought new insights to them on how art could be beyond form and the conventional standard of beauty, in view of the fact that sustainable developmental change in children largely rely on the level of support and engagement from their family.