Artworks | Site-specific Works

Stalactites / Stalagmites | 2022
Permanent Public Art Piece @ Diamond Hill Station, MTR, Hong Kong.
Acrylic on mixed media panels installation


“Stalactites / Stalagmites”

Like windows opening to the outside, Stalactites / Stalagmites invites passengers to contemplate changes in the diamond Hill area across time. Until its demolition in 2001, Tai Hom Village, a large-scale squatter cluster in Hong Kong sat under tree canopies since the 1950s. The historical settlement has been replaced by high-rises standing tall above the same trees.

Neither old squatters nor new buildings are depicted in the series of paintings. Rather, lives in them are evoked with vibrant colours, lingering between tree shades below an eternal sky. While the historical Tai Hom Village no longer exists, a representative feature – the fence surrounding the settlement – is captured in light relief on the series of paintings. In addition to the fence, a tactile finish is also created with the paint itself. These dabs of colours, further to representing the scenery, also embody the artist’s physical journey through the creative process. As commuters retrace the repeated-yet-varied imagery, the past and the present enter into dialogue in the transitory passages.

 

《重像》
 
像沿着走廊打開的一扇扇窗。《重像》靜觀鑽石山周邊的變遷。在2001年清拆之前，大磡村曾是香港最大的的寮屋區，自1950年代以來，一直安坐於樹蔭底下。過去的房子已不復存在，同樣的大樹以下，冒出了新的高樓大廈。
 
畫作沒有具像地描繪舊寮屋或新樓房。然而，永恆的天空下樹影婆娑，鮮明的色彩喚起生活質感。前大磡村成為歷史，但其中一樣具代表性的特質- 卻在畫作的輕浮雕中保存下來。除了鐵絲網，顏料本身也突顯了作品的觸感。厚重的筆觸畫出景色，同時也體現著藝術家一筆一筆的創作過程。在這些重複卻一直在變的風景之間往來，過去與現在輕聲對話。