Ah Leon (Chen Ching-Liang) was born in 1953 in Pintung, Taiwan. He graduated from the National Taiwan Academy of Arts in 1976, and from 1978 to 1982, sought the apprenticeship of famous ceramic artist Li Jhao-Ching from Miaoli, Taiwan. In 1982, Ah Leon participated in an artist-in-residency at the State of University of New York, USA. Since 1985, the artist has exhibited extensively in Asia, Europe and America, including the National Ceramics Museum in Denmark, the Phoenix Art Museum in Arizona, the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Los Angeles, and the National Palace Museum in Taipei. His works are collected by renowned international museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the World Ceramic Exposition in Korea, and the Taiwan Museum of Art in Taichung.

Ah Leon’s works have been described as a trompe l’oeil, or a deception of the eyes. In the development of western contemporary ceramic art, Taiwanese artist Ah Leon’s fool-the-eye realism has been described as ’trompe l’oeil’ as it emphasizes the mimicking of the natural world via manipulation of clay. Ah Leon’s conceptual context in contemporary ceramic has been developed since 1987. His ‘super objects’ not only demonstrate the sculptural conception of hyperrealism, artful craftmanship that always bring to the viewers an extraordinary visual and sensory experience. Centered in Ah Leon’s life as the motif of the works, together with the aesthetics, skillful execution and spirituality, the exhibition aims to amaze the audience by the exquisiteness of his artistic practice and helps them to visualize the artist’s passion for ceramic art with the beauty of his art that he brings to life. The artworks of Ah Leon capture the spirit of Chinese culture. No matter where the works are displayed, a sense of life and tradition of his hometown can be observed.

Writer - Alex Wong Kachun

Participating Exhibition: Whitestone Gallery | Space and Memories

Alex Wong is an artist, designer, writer and researcher working at the intersection between architecture and human rights. He obtained Master of Architecture in Columbia University GSAPP, and he obtained his BA (Architectural Studies) in University of Hong Kong. Educated and trained as an architect, he is transitioning into more artistic and cross-disciplinary practices that incorporate elements of activism, research, design, and art.

Recently, he researches with Professor Du Juan at the Urban Ecologies Design Lab, HKU, on subdivided units and informal housing in Hong Kong. Thus, he drawn to the idea of time in architecture and how residents in SDUs quantify and express time in their living.

In addition, he is passionate about education. Since 2019, he has co-taught classes in schools including HKU and Barnard College, on architectural design studios and history and theory classes. He hopes to incorporate his experience in art practice into his teaching pedagogy and influence more like-minded thinkers in the future.

Artist – Ane Alfeiran

Participating Exhibition: Over the Influence | Camino Al Mictlan (On the way to Mictlan)

Alfeiran is a self-taught Mexican artist who, from a young age, found an escape in art and a forum in which to express her feelings, hopes and fears. As someone who continues to travel the globe, Alfeiran draws on inspiration and technique from the different cities and cultures she has experienced. Alfeiran takes us into the emotional world of each of her subjects, making each painting stand out with its own individual story. Through a deep personal connection present in her compositions, she aims to stimulate the viewer’s feelings and imagination and encourage them to create their own interpretation of what the art means to them.

Alfeiran’s compositions are primarily built on an innate and instinctive foundation, exploring bold colours, line movement and the rawness of facial features. She draws on numerous sources for inspiration from emotions, dreams, graffiti and music to Abstract Expressionism and Primitivism movements. Her work joins together painting and drawing between abstraction and representation. Alfeiran often composes with semi-figurative elements such as heads, faces, legs, eyes or hands and combines an aggressive use of colour and texture with a mix of acrylic, spray paint, oil sticks, markers and Chinese ink on canvas.

Born and raised in Mexico City and currently lives and works in Hong Kong. In a relatively short period of time, Alfeiran has accomplished remarkable achievements exhibiting around the world in Hong Kong, Mexico, USA, London, Italy, Portugal and most recently Singapore.

Artist - Au Hoi Lam, Helen

Participating Exhibition: Ben Brown Fine Arts | Ze/ro

Au Hoi Lam (b. 1978, Hong Kong) has been active in the Hong Kong art scene since the early 2000s. Her work focuses on drawing, painting and installation. Her work is subtlety minimal, always embodying hermetic symbols and codes, thereby intermittently revealing an undercurrent of paradoxes. Through artistic creations, Au ruminates over her life experiences. The subjects of her metaphorical and autobiographical work come from the trivial but profound minute details of everyday life.  Au regards her art objects existing in ways of “self-care”, memorandum, keepsake, symbol, relief, pastime, tranquilliser, vigilance, prayer and contemplation.

Au has been awarded the Alexandre Yersin Excellence Scholarship (Consulate General of France, 2001),  Hong Kong Arts Development Awards – Award for Young Artist (Visual Arts) (Hong Kong Arts Development Council, 2013) and New York Fellowship (Asian Cultural Council, 2019).

Au recently participated in exhibitions including The Dimensions of Living: A House is (JCCAC Gallery, Hong Kong),  Au Hoi Lam: Memorandum ( _____ )(Art Basel Hong Kong, 2016), IV Moscow International Biennale for Young Art: A Time for Dream (Museum of Moscow, 2014), Woman-Home: In the Name of Asian Female Artists (Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, 2014), Au Hoi Lam: My Father is Over the Ocean (Osage Gallery, Hong Kong, 2013) etc.

Her works are in the collections of the Hong Kong Museum of Art and M+ Museum.

Artist – Chan Ka Kiu

Participating Exhibition: Ben Brown Fine Arts | Ze/ro

Chan Ka Kiu (b.1995, Toronto, Canada) is a Hong Kong-based artist who graduated in 2021 from City University of Hong Kong, School of Creative Media (MFA). Chan’s previous exhibitions include solo shows with Parasite, “Don’t come so fast, darling” (Art Basel 2019, Hong Kong), and group shows “Very Natural Actions” (TaiKwun, Hong Kong, 2020), and “Tree Fall in the Woods and No One’s There” (Power Station of Art, Shanghai, 2018).

Focusing on intangible, mundane bizarreries of secular lives, Chan Ka Kiu romanticizes daily scenarios into playful puns and honest confessions.  In the equal power of sneers and tears, her practice penetrates through humor leaving its bitter aftertaste.  Reflecting on accumulating personal experiences, and pointing to the absurdity and paradoxes hidden within routine, Chan playfully juxtaposes seemingly unrelated scenarios in everyday life, re-enacting the commonly missed.

Artist – Christy Chow

Participating Exhibition: Ben Brown Fine Arts | Ze/ro

Christy Chow (b. 1983, Hong Kong) has a background in theatre stage management and cultural studies.  She creates video installations and interactive sculptures that concern humanity, sustainability and social justice. Through her ongoing project “Laborland”, a dystopian amusement park where labour and play converged, she acts as a facilitator of alternate experiences and economies that operate in a way that is antagonistic to capital. Chow holds a BA from The University of Hong Kong, a BFA from RMIT University and an MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Chow is a recipient of awards and residencies including Hong Kong Human Rights Arts Prize (2017), The Best of the Northeast Masters of Fine Arts (2015) and Boston Young Contemporaries (2015). She has exhibited internationally at venues such as the Museum of Capitalism, Oakland; 516 Arts, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Para Site Art Space, Hong Kong; Museum of Modern Art, Poland; Kunsthall Trondheim, Norway; MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Thailand; TS1 Yangon, Myanmar; Gibney Dance: Anges Varies Performing Arts Center, New York; 808 Gallery, Boston; Bakalar & Paine Galleries, Boston; Merino Art Centre, Boston; Pao Gallery, Hong Kong; Espacio de Creación Contemporánea, Spain.

Artist - Christopher Button

Participating Exhibition: Blue Lotus Gallery | The Labyrinth

Christopher Button is an artist and photographer, living and working in Hong Kong. His inspirations are drawn from the city and cinema, particularly the films of Lynch, Kubrick and Tarkovsky. His quiet yet cinematic images look to explore the inner life of his subjects. Gently unraveling the confines which surround us all, exposing venerability in darkness and beauty.

Curator - Chris Wan Feng

Participating Exhibition: Axel Vervoordt Gallery | Residual Heat

Chris Wan Feng (b.1982) is a curator and art critic, currently works and lives in Hong Kong. His art writing can be found on various media publications. Chris’s recent research and curation focuses on development of local art systems and creations of emerging artists in Hong Kong. He is also the founder and editor of independent art review collective “daoju.art”, which supports local art community through planning and organizing series of art critique projects.

Writer - Gabrielle Tse

Participating Exhibition: Artspace K | Childhood in Ceramic Exhibition
Participating Exhibition: Villepin | Myonghi Kang: Origins

Gabrielle Tse, a penultimate-year Law and Arts (Literary Studies) student from The University of Hong Kong. Her articles on local artists and exhibitions have been published in Hong Kong Living and Le Journal International. Furthermore, her short fiction stories won the Hong Kong Young Writer’s Award for two years in a row, and she has won a British Council scholarship to study Creative Writing at the Summer School of the University of East Anglia.

As an aspiring writer and a lifelong lover of art, she contributes her efforts on writing reviews and interviews that compose a cohesive, dynamic whole. Ultimately, she hopes her writings for this project will inspire more public engagement with Hong Kong’s vibrant gallery scene.

Artist - Ivy Ma

Participating Exhibition: Axel Vervoordt Gallery | Residual Heat

Ivy Ma (b. 1973) received her MA Degree of Feminist Theory and Practice in Visual Art at University of Leeds in UK in 2002 and Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in 2001. Cultivating an aesthetic characterized by quietness and stillness, MA’s work becomes a philosophical reflection on nature and history. Looking, collecting, drawing and thinking, she works her way through history to find what we might call “the human thread” running through everything. The objects she collects, the images she selects, and the occasional photographs and videos she produces all strike a similar chord, one that is at once uncanny, disturbing and beautiful.

Artist - Jaffa Lam Laam

Participating Exhibition: Axel Vervoordt Gallery | Residual Heat
Participating Exhibition: Ben Brown Fine Arts | Ze/ro

Jaffa Lam (b.1973, Fujian, China) is a sculptor specializing in large-scale site-specific sculpture and installations, which are primarily made with recycled materials. She is interested in nonverbal conversations and dialogues exploring issues related to local history, culture and current affairs. She contemplates themes such as public art (what does that mean?), loss, the revival of traditional craftsmanship, and the life cycle of human beings and objects, capturing seemingly trivial human stories in the greater flow of history.

Lam has been involved in various public art and community projects in Hong Kong and overseas, including the Fukutake House Project of the Setouchi Triennale (2013), Japan, “Hong Kong Week” (2015) in Taiwan MOCA, “China 8_ New Figuration – Narrative Sculpture“ (2015),  Germany Lehmbruck Museum,  “A New Dynasty- Created in China”(2015), AoS Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark, “Wuzhen International Contemporary Art Exhibition (2016), China and Lyon Lumières (2018), France, “2020 Women Artists International Biennial of Macau”, Macau . She received the Désirée and Hans Michael Jebsen Fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council in 2006. In 2010, Perspective magazine listed her on their 40 UNDER 40 list, recognising the next generation of design talent.  She was also one of the awardees of the Secretary for Home Affairs Commendation Scheme as a result of her long-term contributions to the promotion of art and culture.

She currently serves as the Academic Head of Hong Kong Art School and Chairperson of the Hong Kong Sculpture Association.  She was the founder of former Hong Kong International Artist Workshop (2004–2010), guest host of a weekly art programme on Metro Radio (2014–2020) and column writer for Delta Magazine (2014–2020).

Artist - Jessie Siu

Participating Exhibition: Lucie Chang Fine Arts | The Sky Beyond the Clouds

Jessie Siu, a postgraduate in Philosophy of the Chinese University of Hong Kong , is a self-taught painter.  Ever since her encounter with Buddhism in 2018, the philosophy of Buddhist teachings has been a recurring theme found in her work. Making art has come to be a meditation practice for the artist. She strongly believes as the tip of the paint brush moves across the canvas she too traverses between the two realities. One day she will finally reach the land of the ultimate truth. To challenge the limitations of the flatness and stillness of canvas,  Jessie continuously explores different styles and medium to be used. She is known for her innovative painting approach, painting as sculpture and sculpture as painting.

Artist - Jess Ching Wa Lau

Participating Exhibition: Ben Brown Fine Arts | Ze/ro

Born in Hong Kong in 1991, Jess Ching-Wa Lau gained her BA (Honours) in Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong in 2014. In the same year, she received the Silver Award and award for the Best Local Work at the 20th ifva Festival (is ifva the correct name?)(Interactive Media Category).

Jess’ work applies themes such as narrative fragments, body memory and focus on iterative manual processes and the aggregation of time.  Her work involves a wide range of media, including videos, animation, installation, and exploring the uniqueness and malleability of each medium, for example, outlining the fiction and reality with stop-motion animation.  Jess was the selected artist of Tai Kwun Contemporary Artists’ Studio Residency 2020. She is a member of the ‘Floating Projects Collective”, an experimental artist-run space in Hong Kong.

Artist – Kathy Fung

Participating Exhibition: Galerie KOO | Duet

Kathy Fung was born and raised in Hong Kong. Fung holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Finance. All along the years, Fung not only immerses herself in the financial world, but she also indulges herself to pursue her passion in art. She received traditional training from esteemed masters including Mr Lam Wu Fui (林湖奎) and Wa Gor (華戈 馮兆華), where she came to identify another “her” through painting. She has held exhibition at PMQ, Hong Kong, entitled “Travel around the World” in 2020. She has also collaborated with a cognac brand in New York and a candle shop for the Amsterdam Market.

Fung is a free-spirited globetrotter. She regards art as a means to faithfully depict the majesty and allure of the world. Her artworks are rose-tinted lens as well as love letters to the places she had visited. She is fond of helping the audience reach environmental awakening with her style of capturing nature—be it landscape, be it animals. Fung is skilful in manipulating traditional Chinese art elements – xuan paper, Chinese ink, and brushes, which helps her to bring in her creative concepts with no restrictions or limitations. The use of Japanese gold paper and a world full of colours together with selected memorable elements reflects the artist’s sense of positivity, optimism and hope in life.

Artist - Kurt Chan

Participating Exhibition: Axel Vervoordt Gallery | Residual Heat

Kurt Chan Yuk Keung (b. 1959) obtained his BA from the Department of Fine Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has participated in over 100 exhibitions, including the 51st Venice Biennale and the 2nd Asia Pacific Triennial. Chan was the chief editor for Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook for several years, and taught at The Chinese University of Hong Kong for over 25 years. He is now a board member of Para Site Art Space and the Hong Kong Institute of Aesthetic Education, and an advisor of Asia Art Archive and the Yale-China Association.

Artist - Lee Chin-Sheng

Participating Exhibition: Artspace K | Childhood in Ceramic

Born in Yunlin, Taiwan in 1962, Lee Chin-Sheng’s artworks mainly focus on characterization. Depicting childhood, rural life and social environment from the 1940s to 1960s, he adopts simple and vivid characters to present children’s characteristics and to express his interpretation of beauty.

There is a very deep connection between clay and human beings. Clay somehow marks the trajectory of human development and the birth of civilization. Therefore, Lee applies this ancient and time-honored material to illustrate his memories of life. He tries hard to break from tradition, while creating new themes and forms. Instead of deliberately following the rules, he pursues the inner spiritual expressions by materials. His form of interpretation seems to walk on the edge between styles of traditional and pop, yet with a distinctive smell of the times. His artworks are collected by New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, National Center for Traditional Arts and the HCG Culture and Education Foundation.

In 2014, Lee suffered from myocardial infarction. Although he survived, the accident led to severe amnesia and dementia. This exhibition features the childhood collection he created before the illness.

Artist - Leo Tang

Participating Exhibition: Artspace K | Childhood in Ceramic

Tang Shou-Nam was born in Hualien, Taiwan in 1966. He illustrated the “Echo Children Encyclopedia” series under the Echo Publishing Company Limited in 1985. He also contributed to the illustration of “Children’s Taiwan” and “Picture Book of Chinese Fairy Tale” series in 1988. Since 2003, he has begun to publish his own picture books under the name of “Tang Tang”, including the best-selling “Short-eared Rabbit” followed by “Short-eared Rabbit Got Zero Mark” and “Short-eared Rabbit and Elephant Sasa”, a total of more than 10 books in this series, with the copyrights sold in various countries. He has also published illustrations such as “Youngsters Read The Journey to The West”, “The Star Regional Governor” and “The Little Sky Vice Minister”. Tang Tang has also repeatedly participated in the Bologna Children’s Book Fair of Italy on behalf of Taiwan. Starting by 2009, Tang Tang stepped into creating contemporary art. He started holding solo exhibitions regularly since 2010. It was his first attempt to present his ceramic works in 2016 and his artworks have been widely recognized and collected by both individuals and art museums since then.

Artist - Morgan Wong

Participating Exhibition: Axel Vervoordt Gallery | Residual Heat

Morgan Wong (b. 1984) graduated from School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong with BA (Hons) in Creative Media in 2007 and from Slade School of Fine Art, University College London with MFA in 2013. He currently lives and works in Hong Kong. His selected solo exhibitions include: Time Isn’t Our Border (Goethe-Institut Hong Kong, Hong Kong,2019) (Upcoming), medialogue (Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong, 2018), An Inch of Time; An Inch of Gold(Art Basel Hong Kong-Discoveries, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, 2018), Mean Time(Centre A, Vancouver, 2016), The Dashes; The Laughter; The Reservoirs(organized by A+ Contemporary, Asia Art Center Taipei II, Taipei, 2016), KIGOJA Standard Time(KST) (KIGOJA, Seoul, 2016), Untitled-Expressway(Rolls Royce Motor Car Showroom, Hong Kong, 2015), Filing Down a Steel Bar Until a Needle is Made(Tintype Gallery, London, 2013), One Hour(2P Contemporary Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 2011).

Curator - Natia Ser

Participating Exhibition: Blue Lotus Gallery | The Labyrinth

Natia Ser is an artist from Hong Kong studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. With a background in traditional fine arts, she currently focuses on photography and film. She enjoys immersing herself in nature and writing in her free time.

Artist - Ocean Leung

Participating Exhibition: Axel Vervoordt Gallery | Residual Heat

Ocean LEUNG (b. 1983, Hong Kong), graduated with Master of Fine Arts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Leung initiates projects by street drifting and observation on social movements. By employing object, installation, and video, his work acts as interplay of the paradoxical relationship between art and its plight.

Curator - Olivia Wang

Participating Exhibition: Alisan Fine Arts | Pop Rock

Olivia Wang is an independent curator and writer based in Hong Kong. She is the Director and Producer of Unsung Heroes of Ink (2020), a short documentary on the role of paper in ink painting. She is the representative of the Ink Society and is also on the panel of judges for the UOB Art in Ink Award.

Artist – Owen Wong Kai Wai

Participating Exhibition: Galerie KOO | Duet

Owen WONG (b. 1976) is a Hong Kong-based contemporary Chinese ink artist, graduated from the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts and the University College of Design. Wong developed his passion in art in elementary school with the encouragement of his teacher, Ms CHEN Baozhu, at the time. He then received formal training from esteemed mentors such as Mr LAM Tian Xing, Mr CHAN Shing Kau, Mr Lam Ming Kit, Professor LIU Kuo-sung, Professor PI Daojian and Professor SHI Mo. WONG practices extensively in both oil and ink paintings, and along the years devoted himself in the world of Chinese ink. Wong created his personal signature the “Wrinkle by Floating Molecules” technique, where he uses the ocean and the infinite universe as his main subject matter, and reflects his emotions through ink and wash, combining the concepts of “floating life” and “harmony” with a positive outlook on life and the natural expression of emotions. Ink and wash allows him to explore freely in art and have a clear vision of the future.  He allows his emotions to emerge naturally with the ink and build various realities while uniting his heart and paint brush, giving his paintings energy and a new level of dynamics. In 2019, he received wide acclaim in his solo exhibition of modern ink paintings entitled ” Floating Energy”. He has participated in many art exhibitions and ink exhibitions in Hong Kong and the Mainland.

In 2012, he founded “International Association of Young Artists” to promote the development of young artists. In the same year, he won the championship in the open category of the 37th Hong Kong Young Learners Competition. In 2014-15, he won Chinese Fine Arts Calligraphy Teacher Award, and was appointed as a member of the Special Contributing Committee of the Chinese Children’s Art and Calligraphy in 2015. In 2019, Wong was awarded the Global Chinese Outstanding Youth Award in recognition of his achievements in art promotion. He is currently a member of the Hong Kong Modern Ink Painting Association and a member of the Hong Kong Artists Association.

Artist - Shawn Tang

Participating Exhibition: Axel Vervoordt Gallery | Residual Heat

Shawn Tang (b.1996) obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University, is a Hong Kong-based artist whose practice encompasses diverse forms and mediums, including installation, video, sound, and sculpture. Inspired by anecdotes of daily life and personal experiences, his works often integrate topics of time, place, collective memory and cultural boundaries. His site-specific installations often charged with a particular worldview extracted from reality, presenting narratives with ambiguity and subtlety.

Curator – Shirky Chan Sui Kei

Participating Exhibition: Ben Brown Fine Arts | Ze/ro

Shirky Chan is an independent curator and art columnist who received her Master of Art in Fine Art and Master of Art in Intercultural Studies from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, in 2015 and 2017 respectively. In 2013, Chan received her Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting with distinction from The Hong Kong Art School / RMIT University.

Chan was invited by The Hong Kong Institution of Education as their supporting and professional artist at the “Arts @ School” project in 2014. And being the part-time lecturer at Hong Kong Design Institute in 2020. Selected curating projects include fundraising exhibition presented by Lamborghini Hong Kong, Solo exhibition for Kurt Chan Yuk Keung and Ivy Ma at Touch Gallery. From 2017, she acted as the vice Chair, and is currently the Chairlady, of Hong Kong Art School Alumni Network which has over 450 members.

Artist - Wu Jiaru

Participating Exhibition: Axel Vervoordt Gallery | Residual Heat

Wu Jiaru (b.1991) obtained her BA in Fine Arts and English Language from Tsinghua University in 2014, and her MFA from the School of Creative Media in City University of Hong Kong in 2017. She experiments with imagined spaces and social norms in forms of installation, moving images, printed edition, image synthesis, etc. Wu’s practice covers a wide range of topics, including cross-boundary facilities, literature, modern service industries, manufacturing industries and innovation and technology, romantic relationships, business environment, quality living, education and talent, regional cooperation plans, ecology, as well as mechanisms and arrangements. Wu has participated in many good group exhibitions and her art is in the collection of some important people and organisations.

Artist - Szelit Cheung

Participating Exhibition: Rossi & Rossi | Space
Participating Exhibition: Whitestone Gallery | Space and Memories

Szelit Cheung (b. 1988) is a Hong Kong-based artist whose cross-disciplinary practice spans painting, drawing and photography. His current works resemble the essence of void. Through them, he explores the connection between presence and emptiness by utilising simple forms, light and colours as a means to echo and amplify intangible yet powerful sentiments and expressions.

Essays

The Innocence of Memory: “Childhood in Ceramic” at Artspace K

Gabrielle Tse

“As a kid, I really believed in Treasure Island,” confessed artist Leo Tang with a laugh. Recollecting how he used to dig under his bed for hidden treasure, the Taiwanese artist continued: “Nothing’s more precious than the boundless imagination of children.” As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the world, these nostalgic memories prove to be a much-needed respite from reality. Titled “Childhood in Ceramic,” Artspace K’s latest sculptural show whisks audiences back into a simpler time, featuring Taiwanese artists Lee Chin-Sheng and Ah Leon in addition to Tang.

Leo Tang’s retro sculptures of tin toys, featuring perky, pink-cheeked children on different vehicles, filled one side of the gallery space. Perhaps informed by his previous experience as a children’s book illustrator, Tang handles color and texture with particular precision, such that his ceramic-made toys look convincingly metallic, an illusion augmented by painted layers of ochre-toned “rust.” Despite their subdued expressions, Tang’s figures bristle with playful energy, particularly in the Flying to the Future series (all 2021), in which children wearing helmets steered colorful, comically rounded planes. The artist’s particular fondness for tin toys can be traced back to his early childhood, when he fell in love with an Atomic Boy figure but couldn’t afford to take him home. The image of the unattainable toy, gleaming behind a shop window, was engraved onto Tang’s heart, and remained there as an everlasting symbol of his childhood years. “When people are young, they like to think forward,” reflected the artist, “but as they grow older, it’s the past that occupies their thoughts most.” Like how children breathe life into their toys, Tang imbues his sculptures with a soulful warmth, illuminating the bonds between objects, memories, and personal meaning.

Brightening up the other side of the gallery were Lee Chin-Sheng’s ceramic sculptures of playful, spirited children. With their wide eyes, stocky limbs, and rounded features, the kids looked as though they had inadvertently wandered out of a storybook illustration. Like Studio Ghibli protagonists, the children amuse themselves with idyllic pastimes, such as watching snails, petting dogs, and play-acting as superheroes. Lee’s works tend to highlight the purity of childhood relationships: riding a tricycle and wooden horse respectively, the life-sized Younger Sister and Older Sister (both 2003) smile mischievously at each other, as though imagining their next escapade. Meanwhile, in Childhood Sweetheart (2009), a boy and girl sit side-by-side on a log, their bashful smiles and barely-touching feet bringing out the shy curiosity of young love. Due to the children’s sepia hues, rural surroundings, and lack of acquaintance with modern technology, the world they inhabit is steeped in tender nostalgia. By resituating viewers in the yesteryears, Lee allows them to recall and relive their forgotten pasts.

Compared to Lee’s energetic children, Ah Leon’s ceramic sculptures of daily objects are a quieter and subtler examination of memory. Like an alchemist, the artist transmutes ceramic into other materials: Tofu (2004), featuring ceramic blocks of the titular kitchen staple, looks realistic enough to eat; likewise, a classroom desk and chair set, titled The Memory of Elementary School (2010), “has fooled visitors at an art fair into thinking that it’s actual wooden furniture,” recalled a gallery staff member. Ah Leon’s work is at once rustic and delicate: for example, Tofu’s crowning touch is the faint, mesh-like imprint upon its blocks, a nod to the traditional tofu-making process, which requires applying pressure with a handmade cloth. Taking audiences on a journey that is equal parts sensorial and meditative, Ah Leon’s use of hyperrealism links tactile presence with inner spirituality, honoring a pastoral way of life unspoiled by mass consumption or commercialization.

During the height of the pandemic, “cottagecore” – a Millennial/Gen Z-oriented subculture defined by The New York Times as the “distillation of pastoral existence” – exploded in popularity. Given the current state of global upheaval, this collective desire to seek solace in an idealized past is far from surprising. With its nostalgic atmosphere – amplified by Artspace K’s secluded, historic location – “Childhood in Ceramic” resonated with contemporary yearnings for an arcadian paradise, inviting world-weary viewers to rediscover the innocence of days gone by.

“Childhood in Ceramic”

Date: until 3 October 2021

Venue: Artspace K, G105 – 106, The Repulse Bay Arcade, 109 Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong