IB Visual Arts (HL) - Exhibition Work

Curatorial RationaleHong Kong’s multicultural identity and the factors that have contributed to changing it has been the central theme of my artworks. My art making began with an exploration upon “who am I?” within Hong Kong’s diversity of cultures. Then, my theme gradually evolved into a criticism towards myself for my lack of respect towards my Chinese cultural identity due to my admiration for other cultures. Through exploring this idea, I have discovered that this phenomenon is quite prevalent in Hong Kong, where people cherish their multicultural identity more than their Chinese cultural identity and proudly claim themselves as “Hongkongers”. This is perhaps because Hong Kong’s multicultural identity is what makes its citizens unique amongst the citizens of other Chinese cities. Thus, my theme makes a final transformation to an appreciation of Hong Kong’s multicultural identity and a protest for a potential loss of this uniqueness when Hong Kong officially becomes a city under Chinese governance in 2047.

The intended audiences of my artworks are Hong Kong citizens. I have mainly looked at Chinese contemporary artists and their artworks to enhance my own art making. The repetitive Chinese characters written in calligraphy ink featured in “Façade”, and “Hollow” were inspired by Chinese contemporary artist Zhang Huan’s “Family Tree”, where he gradually covered his face with Chinese characters written in calligraphy ink to represent how culture can slowly become integrated into one’s definition of self. In “Who am I?”, the title of this piece was written in Chinese and repeated in the background of the artwork, as I wanted to emphasize my confusion and represent the sense of loss towards my audience. However, in “Façade” and “Hollow”, the repeated word “me” written in Chinese represents the layers of cultural identities I claim myself to be.

The use of grey, black and red colors that is evident in most of my artworks was inspired by Sheng Qi, where he mainly used red to represent anger and the censored issues within modern China, and dark colors to represent people’s sufferings. My limited use of colors was also inspired by Chinese and Russian propaganda, where red is an allusion towards Communism, and dark colors are used to highlight subjects in a lighter tone. In my artworks, dark colors have the same emphasizing function, yet the color red always represents my Chinese cultural roots. In addition, the use of purchased masks is also common in my

artworks, as I wanted to represent how our cultural identities are products of a society that could change and adapt.

I have organized my artworks into three large groups that represent the three different stages I have encountered whilst exploring the theme of cultural identity. I have named these three stages “confusion”, “criticism”, and “appreciation”. Since my display of artworks is located near the middle of the exhibition room, my audience will first approach the artworks placed in the third of the six display boards. Therefore, I have deliberately placed all artworks related to “confusion” on the third and fourth display boards to raise the question of “who am I?” before my audience begins to view other artworks. This is to prompt my audience to consider what Hong Kong’s multicultural identity means to them. Then, I have displayed artworks related to “criticism” and “appreciation” on the left and right sides respectively to the “confusion” pieces in the middle. By doing this, I am offering my audience two contrasting views upon Hong Kong’s multicultural identity and an opportunity for them to choose which attitude they wish to leave my exhibition with.

To establish a relationship between my artworks and my audience, the objects I have used in my artworks to symbolize my artistic intentions are those that are familiar to native inhabitants of Hong Kong, such as the Hong Kong passport, peonies, and Chinese characters. This makes my artworks culturally significant to my audience, which aids them at interpreting my artworks. In addition, I have also attempted to break the fourth wall that isolates my audience and my artworks in “2047” and “Façade” by making the eyes of the subjects looking directly at my audience, begging for their attention towards the issues I am raising through my artworks.

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IB Visual Arts (HL) - Exhibition Work

The above is my exhibition space, which is situated inside my school’s library. My artworks are displayed in the middle of the art exhibition, as I believe that understanding and discovering our identities is the core question we often ask ourselves before we consider other aspects in life. Starting at the center of my exhibition space (i.e. panel 3 and 4), the display of my artworks to the left and right represent two contrasting perspectives towards how I view my multicultural identity. Towards the left, the artworks express my criticism to my neglect of my Chinese cultural roots due to my admiration of foreign cultures. However, to the right, my artworks portray an appreciation towards Hong Kong’s unique multicultural identity, which is something that I am proud of.

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Artwork 1

Who am I?

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Size: 30.4cm x 25cmMedium: Acrylic on canvas

This self-portrait was inspired by Yue Minjun, Nina Vatolina, and Eugène Delacroix. It expresses my worry that Hong Kong will lose its unique multicultural identity when the city officially becomes one governed under Chinese politics in 2047. My skin tone has turned red to echo the potential replacement of Hong Kong’s multicultural identity with that of China’s. My act of tearing my face symbolizes my unwillingness to accept this Chinese identity that does not reflect who I am.

Artwork 2

Passports

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Size: 80cm x 80cmMedium: Printed passport images attached to

masks (purchased) fixed on canvas

This artwork reflects how people in Hong Kong sometimes use their passports to define their own cultural identities. The purchased masks and the lack of facial features echo the sense of artificiality in using passports to express who we are. The many passports featured in the background reflect the state of confusion I felt when I use the passports to define who I am.

Artwork 3

Façade

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Size: 30.4cm x 25cmMedium: Acrylic paint on mask (purchased) and ink

on Chinese calligraphy paper

Zhang Huan’s “Family Tree” was a source of inspiration for this artwork. My admiration for other cultures has made me ignore my own cultural origins. The paper squares with “me” written on them in Chinese cover my face in reminiscent of how I cover my Chinese cultural identity with other cultural identities that I want to become. Also, I have used a purchased mask to symbolize how our identities are products of society.

Artwork 4

Peonies

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Size: 90cm (L) x 26.2cm (W) x 79cm (H)Medium: Chinese calligraphy paper, wire, glass

bottles (purchased)

The percentages on the flowers represent the percentage “Hongkongers” think their identities are separated from the collective Chinese identity. Yet no matter how separate we think our “Hong Kong” identity is, they are still arbitrary percentages over our Chinese roots that we cannot deny; just like the peonies––the percentages written on them do not change the fact that they are peonies.

Artwork 5

Lonely

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Size: 90cm (L) x 26.2cm (W) x 79cm (H)Medium: Chinese calligraphy paper, wire, glass

bottles (purchased)

This artwork was created based on “Peonies”. The leafless and lonely peony symbolizes my struggle to define myself with a cultural identity to obtain a sense of belonging. The “me”s written in Chinese in the background is covered by graphite powder and charcoal to echo how I have concealed who I originally am. To some extent, I have caused my own loneliness, as I have neglected my own cultural roots.

Artwork 6

Hollow

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Size: 22.4cm (L) x 19.3cm (W) x 30cm (H)Medium: Mask (purchased), wires, hot glue, and

ink on Chinese calligraphy paper

This artwork features the shape of my head. The fact that the head is hollow represents my lack of knowledge of the cultural identities I claim myself to be. It also symbolizes that these identities will never become mine no matter how I make myself appear to belong to those identities; just like the pieces of calligraphy paper covering the mask of the head. This piece was also inspired by Zhang Huan’s “Family Tree”.

Artwork 7

Layers

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Size: 72.9cm (L) x 15.4cm (W) x 8.5cm (H)Medium: Acrylic paint on masks (purchased)

The layers of masks represent the variety of cultural identities Hong Kong people and myself claim to belong. Yet, we cannot hide our original Chinese cultural roots; just like how the red mask will always show despite the layers of black masks applied. The artwork only features a single red mask to represent how we have sometimes neglected the significance of our Chinese roots.

Artwork 8

2047

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Size: 30.4cm x 25cmMedium: Acrylic on canvas

This self-portrait was inspired by Yue Minjun, Nina Vatolina, and Eugène Delacroix. It expresses my worry that Hong Kong will lose its unique multicultural identity when the city officially becomes one governed under Chinese politics in 2047. My skin tone has turned red to echo the potential replacement of Hong Kong’s multicultural identity with that of China’s. My act of tearing my face symbolizes my unwillingness to accept this Chinese identity that does not reflect who I am.

Artwork 9

Residue

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Size: 38.3cm x 38.3cmMedium: Acrylic, ink and printed passport image

on canvas

This artwork is inspired by Eugène Delacroix and Chinese propaganda. The fragmentation of my hand represents the weakening of Hong Kong’s identity as the year 2047 approaches. The printed passport represents its permanency at symbolizing the city’s unique identity. Regardless of environmental changes, Hong Kong’s passport will always reflect the city as China’s “Special Administrative Region”; just like how it is a fixed aspect of the artwork as it is printed onto paper.

Artwork 10

Mirror

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Size: 71.8cm x 51cmMedium: Acrylic on cardboard

This painting echoes my pride of being a “Hongkonger”. I am seen painting my face red, yet my mirror image reflects my true skin tone. This symbolizes no matter how I force myself to adopt a Chinese mindset and cultural identity, I can always see myself as a “Hongkonger”––my true cultural identity. The doors in the background symbolize how the formation of one’s cultural identity is a result of personal choices.