REDSTAR Hangzhou February 2020

/ CULTURE // 广 告 • 文 化
A FORAY INTO
MASIKISM
WE MUST EMBRACE. HER.
OUR MOTHER EARTH.
By Brine Taz and Jared Thompson
Witnessing Canadian artist
Masik’s art performance on the
26th of December during her
first exhibition here in Hangzhou
was spellbinding. Showcasing
25 original paintings, and a
performance that broke the fourth
wall by involving the audience,
made this debut on the Hangzhou
art scene a hit affair. This was
a night of music, libations and
snacks for the people who came
out to admire these unique and
inspired works.
14 redstarhangzhou.com
The exhibition centred around our
natural environment and the roles
we play out within it. Using entirely
upcycled materials from the fashion
factory, JAC, by Jacqueline Conoir, where
Masik’s studio has been since arriving in
Hangzhou, both the visual and material
composition of her art were metaphors
for the impact we are having on the world
that sustains us. Some of the artworks
featured a combination of shattered glass,
crumpled plastics and old ropes. But it
was her use of these common materials
in such original ways that helped imagine
the emotional forces that are bubbling
up under Masik’s skin and driving her
need to deconstruct and then recreate
the world around her in her work.
During the performance, she placed a
half-dozen people inside translucent,
iridescent plastic and proceeded to scroll
black paint all around the outside. She
vigorously painted while onlookers were
asked to utter the following mantra into
a microphone passed around: One class.
One race. One nation. One face. We must
embrace. Her. Our Mother Earth. And
Bring her back to health. We only borrow
for our time. Lest we do it with care.
This performance and her other art pieces
are made with an almost sympathetic flow
of colours that blend to tell awe-inspiring,
deeper tales than the modern paintings
seem to offer at first glance. I found myself
thinking, ‘Isn’t this what art is all about,
catching the mind off guard
then leaving it in a frenzy?’
Some of her pieces moved
me more than others,
but they were all deeply
subjective and brought
about that internal dialogue
that is at the core of modern
abstract art. I felt a certain
degree of fragile honesty
in her style, and that sense
more than anything else was
one of the most powerful
impressions I took away from
the exhibition. It felt more
and more like a coming
together of ideas, not just
her own, but of places,
peoples, perspectives from
all over the world. It felt
like stepping into a sea of
emotion, all-encompassing,
leaving you adrift in thought,
but not suffocating you in it.