Slide 01I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) degree in 2004. In the Graduation Show I exhibited my installation work “Till Death Do Us Part”. Using woolen yarn and iron wire as raw materials symbolically, the work examined the intriguing relationship between the two sexes in a marriage - a veneer of conforming construction of two opposing yet entwining characters intricately woven together.
Slide 02After the show, I had to find a place to store this huge work. That’s when I gathered a group of artists to rent a studio in Fotan. We named the place the “Artistists’ Den”.
Slide 03To begin with, I spent more time on installation work to continue exploring the relationship between the two genders. In this work “The Story of Eight Couples”, I used working gloves and woolen yarn a to symbolize the relationship between eight couples, each telling a different tale of what marriage life is all about. The work was one of the finalist in the Philippe Charriol Foundation 20th Anniversary Art Competition in 2005.
Slide 04I found it a rewarding experience to have a group of fellow artists around in the studio. A humiliating critique from a colleague drives you to think more and work harder. A casual chat often sparked off new inspirations.
Slide 05Every year our group participates in the Fotanian open-studio event. It is an important driving force behind me to create new series of works for viewers. My interest in oil painting grew after I painted a series titled "City Woman". One of the paintings featured a set of lacy outfits. This started off my interest in lace.
Slide 06I used to be a nurse by profession and had been working in major hospitals in Hong Kong and England, where I stayed for almost a year. “Black and White” recorded my impression of the city of Chester in the north.
Slide 07My technique is quite simple. I need to make sure that I have a good canvas to start with. Therefore I often prefer mounting the canvas myself. After I have painted the background, I start with a thin sketch to work out the form and pattern. This alone takes several layers of work.
Slide 08The most challenging task is to build up the texture to simulate genuine lace fabrics. Different types of lace will demand different approaches. But in the end it is all patience and hard work.
Slide 09As a fabric, lace is extremely delicate and cannot keep warm. It’s only function in a garment is decoration. Subjects in painted portraits in museums often had their collars, sleeves and hats sumptuously adorned with lace.Before the Industrial Revolution, lace had to be hand woven. That’s why it used to be an expensive commodity.
Slide 10Vemeer created "The Lacemarker" in 1670. Both him and the girl sold their works to the flourishing middle class to decorate their homes and costumes. Why was Vermeer's work considered art and not that of the lacemaker? Whatever creative work a woman chooses to do in the masculine world, the job would be domesticized, marginalized and exploited in terms of economic value. With the Industrial Revolution, the art of lacemaking was lost forever.
Slide 11The series titled "FRINGE" was my first systemic attempt to re-invent the lost art of lacemaking. I collected different pieces factory-produced lace fabrics from factory outlets. I mounted my canvas on a square frame reminiscent of a quilting block. The background was deliberately flat and free from brush strokes, in contrast to the intricate black or white “needlework” textured with layer after layer of fine brush work.
Slide 12After mastering a technique with a style of my own, I started to use this artistic language to explore into other areas. In this work I go back to installation to hang a painted lace collar against the original blouse neatly folded on a shelf
Slide 13To mimic the texture of different kinds of lacer, I had to experiment and master the subtle differences in tones and reflective properties of oil pigments. A fine brush is a must. My challenge is to achieve a hyper-realistic quality that surpasses digital photography.
Slide 14To build up a particular texture, I must patiently wait for a layer to dry to particular moment before adding the next to achieve a desired effect. This can vary with the weather and took me quite some time to master.
Slide 15Understandably, the technical demand is disproportionately high with larger paintings.
Slide 16For centuries female artists had been stereotyped as amateur flower painters, up to this very day.
Slide 17In a series titled “Floral Silhouettes”, I used floral lace patterns to outline the shape of a flower, which most casual viewers would focus on. But my feminine symbols are subtly represented in the detailed brush work - meticulous, caring and gentle; as the needle work of a piece of hand woven lace. I believe a woman should be proud of her innate qualities.
Slide 18In this work, my painting is exhibited on a table underneath the original piece of lace fabric for provoke an illusive imagination.
Slide 19A painted lace was exhibited side by side with the piece of lace fabric pasted on canvas. Most viewer cannot tell the difference between the two, but anyone can tell a photographic printout from the real thing. The texture I created with oil added a new dimension to hyperrealism in visual representation of art.
Slide 20This series examines the aesthetic and ornamental values of art. The canvas is mounted on a box-like wooden frame with lacy ribbons painted on it. Of course there is nothing inside the box, but the receiver is just as overjoyed.
