IB Art Exhibition
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>IB</strong> ART<br />
EXH<strong>IB</strong>ITION<br />
2021
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Ariana L -<br />
The theme of my exhibition is ‘Gender’. It explores the<br />
role of women as well as gender stereotypes that<br />
currently prevail in society. The intention is to<br />
encourage the viewer to deeply reflect on whether<br />
they have been in a situation of making assumptions<br />
based on gender. In addition, it aims to let the viewer<br />
give thought to whether their life has changed because<br />
of their gender, especially during particular stages of<br />
maturity such as their teenage years and in the work<br />
environment. It is in this regard that I have created an<br />
overall body of work that explores the issue of gender<br />
inequality and how it impacts society.<br />
Three installations will be arranged in the darkroom to<br />
give the viewer a stronger visual impact. This will assist<br />
me in expressing the concept of my work better and<br />
with powerful emotions that are experienced due to the<br />
visual impact. ‘A doll’s house’, inspired by Cornelia<br />
Parker, reinforces the emotion of abortion and gender<br />
stereotypes. In addition, this piece allows the observer<br />
to see from the top, and hence get a stronger sense of<br />
how the doll is physically being controlled by hand,<br />
indicating gender power differences. People can also<br />
see ‘doll’ from various angels and obtain an idea of<br />
the entire action of the hand, ultimately enhancing their<br />
experience. This specific setting could emphasize the<br />
idea of gender stereotypes back to the 1920s where<br />
women had to follow the rule set by their husbands,<br />
one can therefore relate if this remains an issue<br />
currently.<br />
‘Hope’, influenced by Lauren Demaison, is created to<br />
emphasize the feeling of one trying to live in a chaotic<br />
and socially unequal environment with light that is<br />
projected into the ocean. It is displayed at a corner for<br />
a broader view. This is with the hope of breaking<br />
gender stereotypes. It is also painted with chiaroscuro,<br />
which magnifies the idea of melancholy. ‘Life ’was<br />
another exhibition, which was designed in a zoetrope<br />
format. It is displayed with the typical wedding song to<br />
highlight the issue of how people believe it is taboo for<br />
women to not be married when they are in their 30s. It<br />
is however certainly not the case for men. The cut-out<br />
shadows in the zoetrope, display my childhood and my<br />
mother’s life after marriage. This zoetrope is designed<br />
and placed in the darkroom to encourage the viewer to<br />
focus on the theme of gender inequality. Moreover, it is<br />
essential for others to visualize whether their life has<br />
also followed what happens in the zoetrope and if this<br />
is possibly going to be the same for their next<br />
generation.<br />
For my exhibition ‘Catch’, I have chosen to include a<br />
range of media. The use of a shattered mirror is not<br />
only included to express the concept of postpartum<br />
depression, but also allows the viewer to review the<br />
obstacles they have encountered or are currently<br />
facing as women. The technique chiaroscuro is used to<br />
highlight the action of catching and the emotions of<br />
postpartum depression. This is also linked to the<br />
charcoal, indicating the unfair gender assumptions of<br />
how women need to do all the childcare duties. The<br />
action of testing the temperature of powdered milk is<br />
done incorrectly, in this regard it reflects the lack of<br />
childcare knowledge that a general father has. This is<br />
still a issue that could leads postpartum depression.<br />
The ‘Self-care’ is designed for children. The digital<br />
piece illustrates a vintage style and how Disney’s<br />
princesses do not always need a ‘prince ’to save them<br />
in reality. This piece will be displayed where most of<br />
the children would be waiting for class. It is displayed<br />
right next to ‘Flora’ to emphasize that women are<br />
valuing themselves and finding inner strength. This could<br />
raise awareness of the gender assumption that women<br />
are usually weaker than men, hence bringing it to the<br />
attention of a wider audience range.<br />
‘Red’ is a double-colored print woodcut that is<br />
influenced by a film called ‘Raise the Red Lantern ’and<br />
Alfons Maria Mucha. This art is created to express<br />
Chinese concubines pitted against each other in a<br />
struggle for their husband’s affection. As a result,<br />
leading to serious consequences such as outbursts of<br />
jealousy. The inclusion of Chinese Red is to accentuate<br />
the level of restriction and oppression. Black is<br />
supposed to symbolize basic depression, but it is<br />
covered with feudal power. This work could entice the<br />
viewer to reflect on whether this aspect is still an issue<br />
for women. For instance, if they still dress up and wear<br />
delicate makeup to please their husband due to lack of<br />
control and power in the family. I chose to display<br />
‘Flora ’next to ‘Red ’as I focused on complex patterns<br />
that are influenced by Mucha. ‘Flora ’is used to express<br />
the natural beauty of women. It is referred to as the<br />
‘goddess Flora’, to accentuate the feminine curves of<br />
the goddesses during renaissance time. It is also<br />
influenced by Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh with<br />
natural details such as flowers and free lines to<br />
emphasize feminine beauty.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Graphite on Paper<br />
Title: Temperature<br />
Size H x W (x D): 77cm * 53cm<br />
This piece is a hyperrealism style using graphite. Therefore, I<br />
created lots of details of the wrinkles of the hand. The way<br />
he tested the milk is misguided and this shows how careless<br />
he is which links back to the general stereotype that men<br />
think women should know everything about baby care but<br />
not themselves. It encompasses the value of womanhood,<br />
which is apparent throughout my works
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Sculpture<br />
Title: A Doll’s House<br />
Size H x W (x D): 58cm * 37cm * 48cm<br />
The doll on the stage is symbolized that women being controlled<br />
by men and dressed the way that they like, which does not have<br />
their own choice. I focused on the wrinkles of the hand on top of<br />
the doll to emphasize virility. The entire sculpture is displayed in<br />
a black box to create a sense of theatre. Red curtain is used to<br />
dramatize the power that men hold up over women.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Oil on Painting<br />
Title: Hope<br />
Size H x W (x D): 90cm * 60cm<br />
The water distortion is inspired by Lauren Demaison. It gives<br />
a sense of women inner struggles of who have suffered from<br />
the stereotype of women should be flawless and do not show<br />
any masculinity characteristics which are influenced by Frida<br />
Kahlo. The dark background also creates chiaroscuro effect<br />
and emphasize the sense of melancholy.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Woodcut<br />
Title: Red<br />
Size H x W (x D): 45cm * 45cm<br />
This woodcut is inspired by a Chinese movie called “Raise<br />
the Red Lantern”. This movie is about sexual enslavement. It<br />
shows how Chinese concubines pitting against each other in a<br />
struggle of their husband’s affection. I want to use this<br />
artwork to raise gender inequality as men have more choices<br />
than women and could pick the wife or concubines that they<br />
want. But women are forced to get married. The inclusion of<br />
Chinese Red is to accentuate the level of restriction and<br />
oppression.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Digital<br />
Title: Self-care<br />
Size H x W (x D): A3<br />
This is a digital work that is created to criticise the general<br />
conception of Disney princess. The typical princess image in<br />
Disney movie also shows that girls should wait for a man to<br />
rescue them and act as love at first sight. I used similar<br />
brushstrokes that Amy Mebberson uses to create a vintage style.<br />
Also, this work shows that a girl does not have to wait for the<br />
prince to help them to wear the crystal shoes. They have the<br />
right to pick anything they want. This emphasize that women are<br />
valuing themselves and finding inner strength.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Stained Glass<br />
Title: Flora<br />
Size H x W (x D): 89cm * 59cm<br />
This work is inspired by Alfonse Maria Mucha and Margaret<br />
Macdonald. It is based on the composition that Mucha created to<br />
show the natural beauty of women from Greek mythology. I<br />
used lots of detailed linework that is inspired from Margaret<br />
MacDonald Mackintosh to emphasize the beauty of the woman<br />
and used flower pattern that has different symbolisms in Greek<br />
mythology.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Installation<br />
Title: Life Box<br />
Size H x W (x D): 34cm * 34cm * 60cm<br />
This is a zoetrope music box inspired by Mat Collishaw. It shows<br />
a life cycle of a stereotypical girl in China. The cover is designed<br />
on CAD and I laser cut it out. I used stereotypical colour that<br />
people presume a girl would like with sheers and stars. This<br />
creates a sense of girly and fantasy style. It allows the viewer to<br />
think whether their life also follows the pattern while it moves.<br />
This is also displayed with the wedding music, which again<br />
emphasize the importance of marriage to a girl that people<br />
normally think.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L<br />
Date: 2021<br />
Media: Mixed Media<br />
Title: Catch<br />
Size H x W (x D): 146cm * 70cm<br />
The water distortion is inspired by Lauren Demaison. It gives<br />
a sense of women inner struggles of who have suffered<br />
from the stereotype of women should be flawless and do<br />
not show any masculinity characteristics which are influenced<br />
by Frida Kahlo. The dark background also creates<br />
chiaroscuro effect and emphasize the sense of melancholy.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ariana L<br />
Date: 2021<br />
Media: Mixed Media<br />
Title: Fetus<br />
Size H x W (x D): N/A<br />
This work is inspired by Cornelia Parker, reinforces the<br />
emotion of abortion and gender stereotypes. The baby<br />
fetus is displayed in different stages during pregnancy<br />
with XY chromosome models to reflect the issue of<br />
abortion due to the gender of the fetus. Babies are<br />
forced into gender roles before they are even fully<br />
developed in the womb.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Cher X
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Cher X -<br />
When my parents divorced, my grandpa, our only<br />
immediate male relative, assumed the family’s natural<br />
patriarchal role. His condescending views towards the<br />
status of women brought a perpetual feeling of oppression<br />
into our home.<br />
As I began to understand the ramifications of my<br />
grandpa’s constant patronization, I found myself eager to<br />
challenge the status quo at home. When my attempts<br />
failed, I turned to art as a way of confronting the domestic<br />
gender inequality that I experienced. As a result, I created<br />
an oil painting series titled Choice. The paintings reflect<br />
issues surrounding sexism that are prominent in my family<br />
and pervasive amongst my generation of Chinese people.<br />
I painted sheep to represent the women in my family,<br />
molded into conformity through a culture that normalized<br />
sexism and toxic masculinity. The jarring colors—bright red<br />
and blue—worked to depict a menacing environment in<br />
jarring contrast with the soft white hue of the naive sheep.<br />
Playing with the notion that the sheep are unable to their<br />
similarities in one another, I emphasized the lack of their<br />
similarities in one another, I emphasized the lack of<br />
cognizance of the subjects. My “sheep” do not recognize<br />
the ingrained sexism of their situation, just as I did not<br />
initially understand the systemic inequality in my own<br />
home.<br />
<strong>Art</strong> was not always a medium of activism for me. Before<br />
experimenting with my art to explore my situation at<br />
home, I imagined that the point of art was to perfectly<br />
replicate our three-dimensional world onto a twodimensional<br />
canvas. Creating Choice offered me a space<br />
to challenge the confines of the unspoken rules at home.<br />
Since, I’ve grown to see art as a language more powerful<br />
than spoken words. Throughout high school, I worked to<br />
expand my artistic vocabulary from images and colors to<br />
textures, movement, emotion, interaction and light.<br />
This past summer, I interned at a publishing firm. Through<br />
this this opportunity, I learned about the form of the “art<br />
book”: a medium of collecting that shares ideas with a<br />
greater degree of intimacy than the more solemn format<br />
of a museum exhibition. When a viewer opens a book,<br />
they can choose which ideas to save for later or revisit at<br />
their convenience. An exhibition, on the other hand, is more<br />
domineering, as it forces the spectator to engage right<br />
then and there, in an order that the curator determines.<br />
Expanding my artistic vocabulary once again, I decided to<br />
create my own art book, You, proposing a dialogue about<br />
the body-image issues that young women face. This idea<br />
originated from my own experiences and conversations<br />
with friends. Grappling with the impact that body-image<br />
norms and societal pressure had on the women around me,<br />
I decided to face these problems head on. After days of<br />
research, I realized, in East or West, the thread of<br />
commonality is not a specific shape, but the distortion of<br />
what people should look like. Portraying this distortion<br />
became the concept of my work. You is only complete<br />
upon interaction with its readers. When readers flip every<br />
page, the ordinary image on one side becomes disfigured<br />
by a mirror on the opposing page, rendering it<br />
unrecognizable. The distortion varies based on the way<br />
the reader holds the book. Each reading generates a<br />
distinctive result—just as perceptions of the ideal body<br />
shifts across culture and through time periods.<br />
The exhibition has two components arranged in an order<br />
that show the development of my theme ‘Struggle’. At the<br />
start of <strong>IB</strong> Visual <strong>Art</strong>s, I focused on global issues such as the<br />
world refugee crisis. In works ‘Untitled 1’, ‘Untitled 2’, and<br />
‘Mom and Child’, I explored the theme of familial love in<br />
the context of conflict and desperation to challenge the<br />
media dehumanization of refugees to a number. This series<br />
of work is placed on the left side of the senior school<br />
entrance. The more personal exploration of the theme<br />
domestic women rights is placed on the right side of the<br />
same entrance. The plinths show the third section of my<br />
work, which includes a video and a book, are related to<br />
feminism and body image.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Cher X<br />
Date: January 2020<br />
Media: Oil on Canvas<br />
Title: An Afternoon<br />
Size H x W (x D): 60cm * 80cm<br />
My grandma spends a lot of time on the sofa in our<br />
living room. One day during quarantine, the color of her<br />
clothing combined with our sofa created a palette that<br />
caught my eye, and I decided to capture the scene.<br />
Creating work centering my grandma prompted me to<br />
closely observe her in everyday life. In my eyes, my<br />
grandma is reserved and submissive, like many Chinese<br />
women from her generation. Considering the social<br />
context that molded her into the person she is prompted<br />
my work to develop from personal to political.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Cher X<br />
Date: March 2020<br />
Media: Oil on Canvas<br />
Title: Choice<br />
The series ‘Choice’ reflects the state of cognizance in face of<br />
domestic gender inequality among the women in my family.<br />
Having normalized the patriarchy in my family the women in my<br />
family, followed my grandpa’s orders. However, as my<br />
awareness of feminism grew, my desire to challenge the status<br />
quo at home grew. I used sheep to represent the women in my<br />
family, molded into conformity through a culture that normalized<br />
sexism and toxic masculinity. The jarring colors, bright red and<br />
blue, worked to set a menacing environment contrasted by the<br />
soft white hue of the naive sheep. Playing with the notion that the<br />
sheep are unable to see their reflections in the water, nor its<br />
shadows, I emphasize the lack of cognizance of the subjects,<br />
unable to recognize the ingrained sexism in their situation.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Cher X<br />
Date: August 2020<br />
Media: Oil on Canvas<br />
Title: Day in the Kitchen<br />
Size H x W (x D): 70cm * 90cm<br />
In ‘Day in the Kitchen’, I distort my grandma’s realistic size,<br />
painting her bigger than the refrigerator and more muscular, I<br />
tried to empower her in this piece of work.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Cher X<br />
Date: September 2020<br />
Media: Watercolor, Ink on Ice Paper,<br />
Acrylic<br />
Title: You<br />
Size: A4, A5, A5<br />
Through the opportunity of interning at a publishing firm, I<br />
learned about the form of the “art book”: a medium of collecting<br />
that shares idea with a greater degree of intimacy than the<br />
more solemn format of a museum exhibition. When a viewer<br />
opens a book, they can choose which ideas to save for later or<br />
revisit at their convenience. Therefore, I decided to turn the<br />
abstract ink work into a book, ‘You’, proposing a dialogue about<br />
the body-image issues that young women face. You is only<br />
complete upon interaction with its readers. When readers flip<br />
every page, the ordinary image on one side becomes disfigured<br />
by a mirror on the opposing page, rendering it unrecognizable.<br />
The distortion varies based on the way the reader holds the<br />
book. Each reading generates a distinctive result—just as<br />
perceptions of the ideal body shifts across culture and through<br />
time periods.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Cher X<br />
Date: November 2019<br />
Media: Oil on Canvas<br />
Title: Untitled (1&2)<br />
Size H x W (x D): 40cm * 50cm<br />
After reading ‘the Kite Runner’, I became increasingly interested<br />
in the topic of war, conflict, and refugees. I spent many<br />
weekends reading about ongoing conflicts. Seeing the way<br />
children my age or younger being forced out of school,<br />
separated from family, and hungry, I felt a simultaneous<br />
heartbreak and motivation.<br />
These two paintings were the first time I considered art as a<br />
voice to speak up for injustice.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Cher X<br />
Date: September 2019<br />
Media: Stop Motion Video<br />
Title: Me<br />
Size H x W (x D): 4.8MB<br />
As a child, my mom often told me to be myself. And on the road<br />
to becoming ‘myself’, I faced many obstacles. This video<br />
explores the ‘being myself’, ‘changing myself’, and ‘bettering<br />
myself’.<br />
In the video, the red dot that eventually covers the whole screen<br />
explores the idea of coming of age, change, and growth. The<br />
soundtrack was made with four recordings of my voice. The four<br />
different sounds give each colored dot -red, green, blue, and<br />
pink- a different personality.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Cher X<br />
Date: January 2021<br />
Media: Cloth<br />
Title: Warranted<br />
Size H x W (x D): 40cm * 165cm<br />
About mental health.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Cher X<br />
Date: March 2021<br />
Media: Color pencil<br />
Title: Bearing Fruit<br />
Size H x W (x D): 30cm * 50cm<br />
About childbirth and femininity.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Henry K -<br />
Through my exhibition, I wanted to illustrate a sensitive and<br />
ironic portrayal of our apathy and empathy associated<br />
with social issues in the modern era. Each work addresses<br />
different question that I throw towards our society. I have<br />
always wanted to get a deep insight into people and<br />
society. To achieve this, I have been investigating different<br />
global issues and human emotions throughout the course.<br />
My idea is to convey the warning message against our<br />
society, a warning towards what we have done wrong now<br />
and potentially in the future. The warning messages are<br />
understated in my pieces, illustrating our everyday life. By<br />
depicting subtle peculiarity and tense across the pieces, I<br />
want to expose what we do not see and not conscious<br />
about and for all the viewers to acknowledge and reflect<br />
on our misdeed and immorality.<br />
My exhibition of works involves two techniques I used:<br />
''Peculiarity'' and ''Tenseness''. The pieces'' Indifference'',<br />
''Sushi Restaurant'', ''The Peace We Lost'', ''CAMEL'',<br />
''Obedience'' are identified as ''Peculiarity''. The pieces'<br />
pieces' Feminine'', ''apocalyptic warnings of the end of<br />
society'', ''Feelings'', ''Drones'', ''Acrophobia'' are identified<br />
as ''Tenseness''. The works in ''Peculiarity'' symbolize the<br />
apathy of our society. The characteristic of ''Peculiarity''<br />
pieces is calm and static. These pieces are "paused",<br />
paused in their time zone. Although each piece is frozen in<br />
a different time zone, all portraits a quirky situation.<br />
I want the viewers to feel the bizarreness and dryness from<br />
the pieces. All five pieces are painted in third-person<br />
perspectives since I want the viewers to become the ones<br />
who observe the minute details we missed in our society<br />
and realize our unconsciousness is what leads to the<br />
desperations.<br />
The works in ''Tenseness'' represents a sense of urgency<br />
and danger. Each piece is the portrayals of dynamic and<br />
extreme expressions. The ''Tenseness'' series works involve<br />
clear and vivid facial expressions. These works invoke the<br />
power of emotion and symbolize the empathy of human<br />
beings. By depicting the facial expressions that appear in<br />
radical situations, I wanted to convey the idea of<br />
desperations and repentance. I like the viewers to share<br />
the same emotion with the human figures and deeply<br />
realize that our future society is not going in the right<br />
direction, as shown in the past, present days.<br />
The piece ''Seashore Rock'' does not belong to both<br />
''Peculiarity'' and ''tenseness'' series, but instead plays a<br />
role to bring the viewers out of ignorance and illusion. The<br />
fresh and powerful tidal I illustrated grants the viewer a<br />
peace of calm, wishing a tiny hope and energy to the<br />
society.<br />
My works for the exhibition will be arranged successively<br />
and horizontally. As most of my works are presented in 2-<br />
dimensional, I will be placing them on the wall but not just<br />
randomly. I believe that each of my works displays<br />
different tenses – Past, present, and future tense. The<br />
leftward side of the wall represents the past, and the<br />
rightward side represents the future.<br />
An example will be ''CAMEL'', which I will hang at the most<br />
right-hand side of the wall as it illustrates the event in the<br />
distant future. The tenses also represent my insight into<br />
society.<br />
The works in ''past tense''* represent our reflection towards<br />
the mistakes we have committed to earlier days. The works<br />
in ''present tense ' '* illustrate the mistakes we are currently<br />
committing in society. Lastly, the works in ''future tense ' '*<br />
indicate my fear and anxiety towards the mistakes we<br />
may make in future. The exhibition represents an overview<br />
of society's history by telling viewers what happened, what<br />
is happening, and what will happen. Therefore, achieving<br />
my intention to inspire the viewers to perceive both<br />
negative and positive aspects of our society.<br />
Most of my works provide the third-person perspective at<br />
a higher and eye-level. Considering this, I will posit these<br />
works about my eye-level or below. As my 2-dimensional<br />
works are presented on a large scale, it will amplify the<br />
effect of overwhelming and dragging the viewer into the<br />
story that each work represents. Also, many minute details<br />
can be closely observed by the viewers too.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Pencil<br />
Title: Indifference<br />
Size H x W (x D): 60cm * 90cm<br />
This piece illustrates the coldness and apathy that I have<br />
witnessed in the Korean (hometown) society. I believe that the<br />
continuous rising unemployment rate and an increase in<br />
smartphone usage have made our society a senseless place. The<br />
background location is ‘Bokchon’, where I felt is the most Korean<br />
like place. In this piece, I illustrated a person staring at the<br />
smartphone without noticing a tiger approaching. It indicates a<br />
strong immersion rate the smartphone possess to people.<br />
Furthermore, it is the ‘peculiarity’ I wanted illustrate. Through this<br />
piece, I wanted to convey the idea that our society is becoming<br />
a more self-centred and emotionless world via depicting a<br />
quirky situation.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Woodcut<br />
Title: Feminine<br />
Size H x W (x D): 52.5cm * 100cm<br />
This piece is majorly inspired by the comic book ‘Persepolis’ by<br />
Marjane Satrapi and contains my personal interpretations of<br />
Feminism. The ‘Hijab’ is the element I utilized in this piece since I<br />
believe that Hijab represents the oppression and pain of the<br />
woman since it hinders all the beauty and freedom a woman can<br />
express. The contrast between flowers and female souls on both<br />
sides of the hijab represents beauty and oppression. The<br />
woman’s eye represents my strong opposition against the<br />
discriminations from society.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: 3D<br />
Title: Apocalyptic Warnings Of The End<br />
Of Society<br />
Size H x W (x D): 20cm * 20cm * 23cm<br />
This illustrates my imagination of an abandoned city due to the<br />
rising sea-level caused by global warming. As global warming is<br />
becoming the most urgent issue globally, I felt that we lack<br />
consciousness and interest in this emergent issue. I have utilized<br />
Styrofoam, resin and iron wools in this piece. My earnest<br />
message towards the society that saving the planet cannot be<br />
delayed anymore or otherwise; the imagination will become true<br />
shortly.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Oil on Woodboard<br />
Title: Sushi Restaurant<br />
Size H x W (x D): 52cm * 84cm<br />
This piece may look like a normal Japanese restaurant<br />
illustration at first glance before you find the chopped hand<br />
placed on the plate by the chef. This piece is inspired by the<br />
work 'nighthawks' of Edward Hopper. As 'nighthawks' convey<br />
modern society's true emotion, I also wanted to express the<br />
depression and frustration of modern society. The restaurant's<br />
calm and peacefulness despite the chopped hand indicates the<br />
indifference and senselessness of modern people. The dryness of<br />
the society indicates our lack of emotion and sentiment, which<br />
shows how modern people is living in a treadmill life.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Oil on Canvas<br />
Title: The Peace We Lost<br />
Size H x W (x D): 80cm * 120cm<br />
Majorly inspired by O Jiho and Claude Monet, I wanted to<br />
express Korean sentiment and culture through impressionist<br />
techniques. The view of this piece is the 'Demilitarised zone'<br />
between South and North Korea. I believe that the view contains<br />
the memory of the Korean war and the hope of the Unification<br />
of one Korea. With this idea in mind, I have created this purely<br />
based on my impression of the view. The girls running towards<br />
north suggest the peculiarity since this is not possible to enter<br />
DMZ.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Clay<br />
Title: Obedience<br />
Size H x W (x D): 25cm * 30cm * 24cm<br />
"What if you were the animals? How would you feel?". This is a<br />
piece inspired by such questions, I thought. If we are animals,<br />
how humans will treat us? We are only free after death. In the<br />
piece, three human figures are kneeling in front of the animal's<br />
remains. It suggests we are showing the reverence to the animals.<br />
The real grass is grown with real animal skulls suggests ‘the<br />
death on freedom from destruction’ . Therefore, I wanted to<br />
convey the message of animal protection via generating a sense<br />
of empathy from the viewers.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Digital<br />
Title: CAMEL<br />
Size H x W (x D): 4096px * 2048px<br />
This is a digital painting of future transportation I imagined in<br />
the shape of a camel. I imagined a scenario that desertification<br />
has totally lost control in the distant future due to extreme<br />
climate change. The animals, including camels, have become<br />
extinct. In such a situation, human has devised new transportation<br />
which created based on camel traits. Through this piece, I<br />
wanted to criticize the idea that we humans are always devising<br />
the solutions for ostensible problems and trying to adopt, accept<br />
the current situation.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Mixed Media<br />
Title: Feelings<br />
Size H x W (x D): 43cm * 43cm<br />
This piece is the portraits of my four different facial expressions<br />
through four different mediums. The facial expressions indicate<br />
how I feel about the oppressions from society, competition, and<br />
pandemic. The emotion includes Sorrow, Anger, Annoyance and<br />
frustration.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Pencil<br />
Title: Drones<br />
Size H x W (x D): 38cm * 53cm<br />
The facial expression of myself suffering from the drones<br />
indicates my consciousness of the near-future crisis. I believe that<br />
the new drone designs will take over all the delivery services in<br />
future. However, I do not prefer such a society. In future, the<br />
value of labour will significantly decrease due to these high-tech<br />
machines. Therefore, society might become a dry, inconvenient<br />
place, as I illustrated in this piece.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Oil on Canvas<br />
Title: Acrophobia<br />
Size H x W (x D): 60cm * 80cm<br />
Like 'Drones', this piece also represents my consciousness of the<br />
near-future crisis. In this piece, I portraited me falling from the<br />
future transpiration - 'Drone Taxi' that I imagined. Due to the<br />
high demand for roads and an increase in future population,<br />
drones will play a bigger role. However, I believe that such a<br />
great design can also be detrimental to our society. Like cars,<br />
plastic, nuclear, and weapons, which everyone thought was the<br />
greatest design in human history, is considered detrimental.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Henry K<br />
Media: Oil on Canvas<br />
Title: Seashore Rock<br />
Size H x W (x D): 30cm * 60cm<br />
'Seashore Rock' is a landscape painting. My own investigation of<br />
impressionism focused on 'what I felt rather than 'what I saw'. The<br />
freshness and brightness were my biggest impression of the<br />
beach I went to during the summer holiday. I included this piece<br />
in the exhibition to bring viewers outside the negative<br />
perspectives of me towards our society and feel the freshness<br />
that is remaining in our society.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Jenna H
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Jenna H -<br />
Emotions are strong feelings deriving from one's<br />
circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. Emotions<br />
have two sides, external and internal; external emotions<br />
are mainly represented through facial expressions, verbal<br />
communication, and body gestures. On the other hand,<br />
internal emotions are more complex. They tend to be<br />
transparent, soundless and intangible. I therefore based<br />
my exhibition's theme on internal emotions.<br />
The old man is using a large wood board to set a fire<br />
which represents seeking hope, symbolising my persistent<br />
hard work and my pursuit of hope.<br />
My works are differentiated into three categories —<br />
optimistic, neutral and pessimistic— forming a gradual<br />
change and smooth transition. Thus, the exhibition is<br />
arranged in this order, from fear, to anger, to tranquil,<br />
then to hope, as if there are a cycle of emotion that<br />
everyone must go through everyday. By connecting all of<br />
these precious emotions together, I wish to touch on the<br />
implication of emotions are inseparable and the<br />
adjustment of our mind set is significant.<br />
My art represents several stages that I have experienced<br />
in the past few years: nostalgic, passionate, indifferent,<br />
anxious and struggling. Each piece illustrates a specific<br />
memorable scenario of my own personal journey. Through<br />
making art, I have gained a thorough recognition of<br />
myself and established ways to communicate with and<br />
reflect upon myself.<br />
Most of my works are metaphorical, different<br />
interpretations that can be applied subjectively based<br />
upon people’s own personal experiences, for one of my<br />
purposes of creating artworks is to let the empathy of<br />
viewers emerge. For example, the digital piece ‘Drinking<br />
Coffee’ is a reaction piece to the COVID-19 pandemic,<br />
when I was forced to quarantine more than three months
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Jenna H<br />
Media: Pencil on Paper<br />
Title: How to Forget<br />
Size H x W (x D): 59.4cm * 84.1cm<br />
The style and the texture of this piece are inspired by Glen<br />
Ronald, who utilises charcoal and kneaded eraser to create<br />
wiggly lines that look like ash, and it forms direct contrast with<br />
the black background painted. There are pure white spaces in<br />
the mirror to add value and contrast with the pure black spaces.<br />
The ash merges into both the girl’s face and her grandad’s<br />
mirror draw by 6b pencil in detail, symbolising though they are<br />
not touching each other physically, her grandpa stays in her<br />
memory forever. ‘How to Forget’ conveys my emotion, cherishing<br />
his influence that has deeply rooted in my mind eternally.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Jenna H<br />
Date: December 2019<br />
Media: Sculpture<br />
Title: ‘HELP!’<br />
Inspired by Johnson Tsang’s exaggerated distortion elements<br />
which are shown through the character’s face, I decided to focus<br />
on the facial expression of the man, the wrinkles and veins stood<br />
out and is created by sticking an extra layer of clay. The details<br />
are done when the clay is half dry so that it is easier to carve<br />
into. Both the head and the arm is hollow filled with a<br />
newspaper which alleviates the mass of the final product. The<br />
board is separated into two parts where the hand could be held<br />
away from the hand to emphasise the theme of desperateness.<br />
As the guy is trying to climb out of the marsh but it is a futile<br />
attempt, the sculpture indicates no matter how hard you try,<br />
there is no way out.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Jenna H<br />
Media: Woodcut<br />
Title: The Cycle of Lost<br />
Inspired by M.C. Escher who uses swallow as the main element of<br />
his woodcut, I decided to use a flock of swallows from near to<br />
far, flying from the sky to a cliff, to depict a circular shape<br />
indicating there is a cycle. The infinite number of birds in the far<br />
end purposely draws to make the audience dazzle, thus,<br />
emerging a sense of loss. The lines for the sky are horizontal<br />
whereas the lines for the cliff are vertical, which form direct<br />
contrast and will make every part more apparent. Furthermore,<br />
there is a gradual change of colour from black to white, which is<br />
achieved by the gradually thickened lines from bottom to top.<br />
The work communicates the message of loss of individuality as<br />
there are so many birds each individual is actually lost in the<br />
crowd.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Jenna H<br />
Media: Drinking Coffee<br />
Title: Digital<br />
Size H x W (x D): 1973px * 2262px<br />
Inspired by Marta Syrko’s photography I focused on depicting<br />
beauty, specifically focusing on the eyes nose and mouth. I<br />
created 6 layers in ‘procreate’ for sketching, colouring, putting<br />
highlights, adding shadows, drawing background and smoothing<br />
the borders. I didn’t use the colour directly from my photo, but<br />
instead, I add warmth and saturation to make the background<br />
(water) look like coffee and make the bubble look like milk frost.<br />
The woman is lying in a pool of coffee, meanwhile drinking the<br />
coffee, which represents the excessive temptations around me<br />
that can’t be overcome.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Jenna H<br />
Media: Pen and Ink<br />
Title: Mahākāla<br />
Size H x W (x D): 60cm * 60cm<br />
Borrowing the element from Tangka (Tibetan mural design), this<br />
piece is about the god ‘Mahākāla’ who is Shakyamuni’s (a<br />
buddha’s) angry incarnation. He sits on a lily pad which means<br />
tranquillity to suppress his anger and to conceal his emotions. This<br />
piece tries to convey how every person has an angry side as if<br />
the ‘Mahākāla’ is in them, but we all should learn how to deal<br />
with it and eliminate our irritation. I drew elements in the<br />
background like elephants, skulls, little devils, etc that is very<br />
commonly used in Tibet. Instead of traditional Chinese colour, I<br />
decided to do black and white using a ball pen; combining dots,<br />
lines, and shaded planes, to add vivacity to the drawing.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Karen K -<br />
The overarching theme of my exhibition is the relationship<br />
between humans and technology. Technology is deeply<br />
permeating into our lives: socially, economically, and<br />
environmentally, in which the pieces convey the active<br />
reciprocal action between the two topics. My inspiration<br />
comes from my surrounding. Just by observing what is next<br />
to me, I could find various technological devices, such as<br />
laptops to smartphones, which are an integral part of our<br />
lives. These devices allow us to communicate, research,<br />
and be a very tool in our education. However, I also<br />
thought about the negative consequences it creates, which<br />
inspired me to focus on both the benefits and costs of us<br />
cohabiting with technology.<br />
The layout of my artworks starts from touching on the<br />
general theme of my exhibition to proceeding into the<br />
deeper meanings and relationships. The display starts with<br />
a piece named ‘Tangled Feet’, alongside ‘ENIAC’ and<br />
‘Farming’ located on the right. All three share the same<br />
subject of monotone colors, which was intentionally put<br />
together to accentuate the artistic meaning inside. By<br />
starting my exhibition order form works with monotone to<br />
works with various colors, it would form a gradual increase<br />
in both the complexity of the use of colors and the theme.<br />
Technology invites us to another world filled with<br />
information, but the new path that brings us is uncertain,<br />
specifically on how technology will change our lives in the<br />
future.<br />
Below ‘ENIAC’ is ‘The Black Box’. The black opaque sides<br />
of the box gratify the curiosity of the audience, as the<br />
external view does not reveal anything. As an interactive<br />
piece, the viewer has to click the flashlight on, which is<br />
located next to the box, in order to look at what is inside<br />
the box. The brightened-up box reveals two metallic<br />
figures lying down, pointing to the audience. The abrasive<br />
texture of the two figures and the green background<br />
establishes an intense contrast, with wooden snipers on<br />
their hands. I wanted to portray the conflict and unstable<br />
minds of people when set in a decision, where various<br />
opinions are attacking the person’s original state. When<br />
the viewer peaks through the eye hole, the snipers that the<br />
two men are holding are pointing at the viewer, attacking<br />
their weak points, and questioning them, what makes you<br />
feel afraid?<br />
During one of my artist researches, I have watched a<br />
human documentary titled ‘I Met You’, which is about<br />
bringing people back who no longer exist in reality by<br />
utilizing Virtual Reality. This piece touches on the<br />
affectionate relationship of a family, and how technology<br />
can be useful for people to find back their loved ones.<br />
Similar to real VR screens, two identical compositions are<br />
drawn next to each other creating a feeling that the<br />
mother is watching her child through VR glasses. This piece<br />
conveys that although technology acts as a bridge<br />
between the mother and the child, it creates a distance<br />
between the two.<br />
One piece of mine, named ‘Location Tracker’ is a sculpture<br />
of my face. I was inspired by Katie Holland Lewis,<br />
especially one of her pieces titled ‘Tangled Pathways’.<br />
She documents subjective body experiences by first<br />
dividing her body into an abstract grid, and tracks places<br />
where she feels physical sensations by pinning red pins,<br />
linking them with red strings. ‘Location Tracker’ is a<br />
physical map drawn on a clay face with different colored<br />
pins and strings. Under the theme of surveillance, the<br />
personal map of myself tracks where I go and how much I<br />
have walked. With the numerical data on the ‘Health’<br />
application, the different colored strings stand for each<br />
day, with the length of each string representing how many<br />
steps I have walked every day. Technology is tracking our<br />
every move with exposes the vulnerability oSf how we are<br />
no longer free from ‘Big Brother’, being a part of an<br />
algorithm.<br />
‘The garden of Eden’ and ‘Robot brain’ share the same<br />
figures of wooden mannequins. The painting has two<br />
mannequins drawn next to a tree, and the sculpture has 9<br />
wooden mannequins surrounding a dangling core. As the<br />
two pieces share the same type of figures, it evokes a<br />
sense of feeling as if the mannequins in the brain are<br />
having a rest next to the tree. The figures I used here in<br />
the two artworks are very simplistic, which is aimed to<br />
portray the theme of humanity in an innocent and pure<br />
matter.<br />
From my art pieces, I want the audience to rethink how<br />
technology and network are both physically and mentally<br />
affecting themselves. As technology is advancing at a fast<br />
speed, the lives of people are easily changing both<br />
positively and negatively, but as a humanity, we should<br />
acknowledge the influence of technology on our social<br />
lives and be aware of how it shapes ourselves.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Graphite on Paper<br />
Title: Tangled Feet<br />
Size H x W (x D): 84cm * 59cm<br />
With the increasing dependency on technology, ‘Tangle Feet’<br />
illustrates people being tied down by their addiction. The use of<br />
graphite conveys the meaning in a calm but intense way. The<br />
theme and the medium form a juxtaposition between a longestablished<br />
medium and a new subject of development.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Clay and Glaze<br />
Title: Human WIFI<br />
Size H x W (x D): 43cm * 38cm<br />
A ceramic sculpture, ‘Human WIFI’ aims to express the intimate<br />
relationship between people and networks. Internet connects us<br />
to a new invisible world full of information, where people can<br />
acquire new knowledge or communicate with others. The strong<br />
contrast of the color scheme of black and white emphasizes each<br />
layer of the WIFI.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Acrylic on Canvas<br />
Title: The Garden of Eden 2020<br />
Size H x W (x D): 50cm * 70cm<br />
This work can be called the new version of The Garden of Eden.<br />
By twisting the original story, technological aspects are added,<br />
especially the CCTV next to the tree. The two wooden<br />
mannequins are under surveillance by CCTV. The mixed colors of<br />
acrylic wash make the painting seem as if a distorted filter is<br />
added, creating a contemporary look to the whole piece.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Acrylic and Pen on Printed<br />
Photography<br />
Title: Distorted Beijing<br />
Size H x W (x D): 36cm * 55cm<br />
Taken during a tour around Beijing, two photos are digitally<br />
manipulated and printed out on a canvas. The distorted traffic<br />
lights and the old man forms a contrast between the traditional<br />
culture left inside Beijing and rapidly developing technology. It<br />
demonstrates the current society in Beijing, where traditional sites<br />
and technologically advanced city centres are in proximity.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Clay on Board, String, Pins<br />
Title: Location Tracker<br />
Size H x W (x D): 24cm * 27cm<br />
Inspired by Katie Holland Lewis, ‘Location Tracker’ is under a<br />
theme of surveillance, where each location I go is pinned and<br />
connected on a map, which is drawn on top of a ceramic<br />
sculpture of my face. I wanted to express how technological<br />
devices are tracking wherever we go and how many steps we<br />
walk on a certain day. Each color represents a specific day, and<br />
the length of the strings reflects the foot-steps.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Oil on Board<br />
Title: VR<br />
Size H x W (x D): 94cm * 46cm<br />
Inspired by a human documentary titled ‘I Met You’, ‘VR’ is about<br />
bringing people back who no longer exist in reality by using<br />
Virtual Reality. This piece touches on the affectionate relationship<br />
of a family, and how technology can be useful for people to find<br />
back their loved ones. Similar to real VR screens, two identical<br />
compositions are drawn next to each other creating a feeling<br />
that the mother is watching her child through VR glasses. This<br />
piece conveys that although technology acts as a bridge<br />
between the mother and the child, it creates a distance between<br />
the two.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Acrylic Board, String, Drawing<br />
Mannequins<br />
Title: Robot Brain<br />
Size H x W (x D): 20cm * 20cm * 27cm<br />
During the step of different composition drawings, I thought of<br />
what would a robot brain look like. People are still controlling<br />
the movement and thoughts of robots. The robot’s process of<br />
absorbing information is shown by the soft<br />
purple light glowing from the core.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Clay with Glaze, Acrylic, Board,<br />
Fake Moss<br />
Title: The Black Box<br />
Size H x W (x D): 20cm * 20cm *40cm<br />
Inspired by three artists: Alberto Giacometti, Shin Yun Bok, and<br />
Matthew Barney, ‘The Black Box’ is a form of interactive art,<br />
where the audience peaks through the hole with a flashlight.<br />
When they do, the two metallic figures inside the box physically<br />
aim at the audience with a wooden gun in their hands. I wanted<br />
to portray the conflict and unstable minds of people when set in<br />
a decision, where various opinions are attacking the person’s<br />
original state. The snipers pointing at the viewer touch their weak<br />
points and questioning them, what makes you feel afraid?
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Pen and Ink<br />
Title: ENIAC<br />
Size H x W (x D): 39cm * 27cm<br />
A human foot is hung up next to the first made computer, ENIAC.<br />
Cables are physically tangled and plugged on the foot,<br />
conveying that technology has already been a part of us since<br />
its initial development. The deep perspective of the composition<br />
generates a focus on the foot, emphasizing the message of the<br />
piece.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Karen K<br />
Media: Woodcut<br />
Title: Farming<br />
Size H x W (x D): 42cm * 60cm<br />
Cables are lying tangled on a farm, with hands trying to pull out<br />
the carrots. Technology is permeating into our lives, which is<br />
symbolized by carrots. Nature, the innate qualities of a person,<br />
is highly affected by scientific knowledge.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Leah S
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Leah S -<br />
There are many threats that we face throughout our lives –<br />
ones that have left an influence in the past, ones that we<br />
are currently defending ourselves against, and ones in the<br />
future that will require us to prepare for.<br />
There exists many threats that are hazards to our<br />
livelihood – conflict, illness, or even just bad habits.<br />
However, threats are not limited to those that may<br />
endanger our physical wellbeing. They include<br />
metaphysical threats, such as ones that will harm our<br />
connections with others around us, or ones that might affect<br />
us mentally. I explore this in my painting, “The Dinner<br />
Table”, where I try to show how the development of<br />
information technology poses a threat towards our familial<br />
connections. This idea is also presented in “Distraction”,<br />
where I depict a threat that comes from my personal<br />
experience which I’m sure many can relate to.<br />
In my artworks, I aim to investigate not only the influence<br />
of these threats, but also the methods of defence that we<br />
have against them. Many defences that were crucial to our<br />
safety in the past are now futile, either disposed of or<br />
seen as tourist attractions. I attempt to look into how the<br />
value of these defences have changed through time, to us.<br />
As the threats that we face change, our methods of<br />
defence have to change too.<br />
This idea is explored in “The Great Wall” - at first sight<br />
the viewer would assume that its theme is mainly connected<br />
to Chinese cultural artifacts or tourist attractions.. It is also<br />
developed in my works “Shattered Past” and “Knight’s<br />
Hall”, both presenting subjects that were made for the<br />
purpose of defence in the past, but are now seen simply<br />
as commemorations.<br />
Another idea that I intended to explore is how these<br />
defences and threats interact – how we use our defences<br />
against these threats. Are these defences necessary? Are<br />
we using them correctly? What makes up these defences?<br />
In my works where I explore this idea, I dive deeper into<br />
the concept of threats and defences, investigating threats<br />
and defences of different times and mediums. In<br />
“Shrouded Future”, I explore a possible future threat and<br />
what defences we might have towards it. In “Comments”,<br />
social media is presented as being a defence against the<br />
threat that it itself brings. In “The Mask”, I look to the<br />
pandemic that we are currently in, and how we attempted<br />
to defend ourselves against it.<br />
To best present these ideas, I intend on letting pieces such<br />
as “The Great Wall”, “Shattered Past”, and “Knight’s Hall”<br />
to be seen first by viewers. I wish to achieve the effect that<br />
viewers would at first assume my theme is related to<br />
cultural artefacts of the past, before they realize<br />
otherwise. I plan to have “The Dinner Table” and<br />
“Distraction” be viewed next, to showcase the idea of how<br />
metaphysical threats exist within our modern society. Lastly<br />
would be “Shrouded Future”, “Comments”, and “The<br />
Mask”, where viewers would be given instances of<br />
defences that we have used of different times and how we<br />
have used them against the threats that we face.<br />
Through this arrangement, I hope to open a new<br />
perspective in the eyes of viewers towards what they<br />
experience in everyday life – the “threats” that they face,<br />
and what “defends” us against them.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Leah S<br />
Media: Charcoal<br />
Title: The Great Wall<br />
Size H x W (x D): 84.1cm * 59.4cm<br />
The style for “The Great Wall” was mainly inspired by the artists<br />
John Malone and Karen Winters, with a strong focus on creating<br />
contrast between bright and dark values to capture the light<br />
within the scenery. This piece was made with the intent to<br />
comment on how in the past the Great Wall was built and<br />
valued as a defence against outer invasions, but is now seen as<br />
merely a cultural artefact
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Leah S<br />
Media: Clay, Sculpture, Glaze<br />
Title: Shattered Past<br />
Size H x W (x D): 20cm * 15cm * 15cm<br />
“Shattered Past” was greatly influenced by the works of Rachel<br />
Kneebone, which incorporated cracks and shattered pieces. With<br />
contrast between the colours of the shattered pieces and the<br />
kneeling Terracotta Warrior, this piece comments on how these<br />
clay warriors were created in the past to promise protection and<br />
prosperity for a dead emperor, but now, broken down, are seen<br />
as tourist attractions.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Leah S<br />
Media: Wood Block Printing<br />
Title: Knight’s Hall<br />
Size H x W (x D): 42cm * 59.4cm<br />
Influenced by the works of Hubertine Heijermans, the style of this<br />
piece utilizes lines of different thickness, density, and patterns to<br />
create feelings of texture and shading. In “Knight’s Hall”, suits of<br />
knight armour stand within the halls of a castle, acting as a<br />
decoration rather than equipment for battle, which was their<br />
past purpose.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Leah S<br />
Media: Oil Painting<br />
Title: The Dinner Table<br />
Size H x W (x D): 59.4cm * 84.1cm<br />
This oil painting was inspired by the works of Grant Wood,<br />
Henry Ossawa Tanner, and Zhang Xiaogang, with the meaning<br />
behind the piece having a profound connection to familial bonds.<br />
In “The Dinner Table”, a familial bond is established through the<br />
family’s physical gathering, but the bond is easily broken by the<br />
threat of technology’s influence.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Leah S<br />
Media: Oil Painting<br />
Title: The Mask<br />
Size H x W (x D): 59.4cm * 42cm<br />
The idea behind “The Mask” is connected to the concurrent<br />
pandemic and people’s reactions to it – seeking for excessive<br />
defence (the masks) but still facing the threat (going outside). It is<br />
influenced by the works of Winslow Homer and Frank Webb,<br />
using the environment to express difficulties that people face,<br />
and utilizing saturated colours to create a vibrant feeling.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Leah S<br />
Media: Digital<br />
Title: Shrouded Future<br />
Size H x W (x D): 1668px * 2224px<br />
“Shrouded Future” was inspired by the works of Finnian<br />
MacManus and David “Deiv Calviz” Villegas, acting as a<br />
glimpse into a science fiction world with a dystopian future. The<br />
intent of this piece is to investigate the possible threats that our<br />
future may hold due to how fast we are depleting the resources<br />
of Earth, but also the defences that we may use against such<br />
threats (the gas mask).
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Leah S<br />
Media: Digital<br />
Title: Comments<br />
Size H x W (x D): 2048px * 2048px<br />
The illustration “Comments” gains inspiration from the works of<br />
Matt Chinworth and Richard Beacham, both editorial illustrators<br />
who create works about modern topics. In our time of information<br />
technology, there is a widespread belief that social media and<br />
the comments that come from it will only cause harm and act as a<br />
threat, but the aim of this piece is to show that this is not<br />
necessarily the case, and that comments can too act as a<br />
defence from these threats.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Leah S<br />
Media: Oil Painting<br />
Title: Distraction<br />
Size H x W (x D): 42cm * 59.4cm<br />
This painting is influenced by Winslow Homer and Frank Webb,<br />
depicting a figure facing a difficulty with the use of vibrant<br />
colours and by establishing a setting. It addresses a personal<br />
experience of my own from during the pandemic in which I face<br />
the threat of being distracted from my school work during online<br />
learning.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Mark W -<br />
The body of work focuses on the paradoxical tension<br />
between nature and societal development. Inspired<br />
conceptually and visually by contemporary artists such as<br />
Hirst, Nauman and Bacon, the pieces satirically subvert<br />
present issues such as consumerism, commercialism, mass<br />
production and oppressive societal norms. Furthermore,<br />
dark humour and references to Pop Culture display a raw<br />
and unfiltered portrayal of the abhorred issues, allowing<br />
viewers to come to their own conclusions on where they<br />
stand.<br />
Reds and muted colors flow through the body of work,<br />
acting as a carnal visual link used in conjunction with the<br />
visceral and fleshy imagery to express the primordial and<br />
animalistic qualities of humans hidden under the structured<br />
and orderly world, we’ve built around ourselves. Inspired<br />
by Kapoor’s sculptures and Rothko’s ‘Seagram Murals’,<br />
reds and blacks represent sensual and spontaneous human<br />
emotions, linking pieces in my exhibition through a fleshy,<br />
carnal colorscheme.<br />
Pieces such as ‘Felt Cute, Might Delete Later’ and<br />
‘Rearrange My Organs’ are satirical commentarial pieces<br />
that use items from Pop Culture such as social media filters<br />
and boardgames to critique our disconnect with nature<br />
and biological selves as a result of societal development.<br />
‘Shanzi, Banzi and Ed’ prominently reflects the overarching<br />
theme of the body of work. Modern life is seen by most as<br />
an improvement, a more luxurious and opulent way of life.<br />
The piece subverts these stereotypes, revealing the<br />
adversarial side effects of modern life such as pollution,<br />
loss of independence and decayed mental health. The<br />
piece explores the contrast between the purity and<br />
dynamic atmosphere of nature and the grim, homogenised<br />
ways of mechanised modern life, allowing viewers make<br />
their own judgement on the matter.<br />
Drawing parallels between the natural world and humans'<br />
festers in the body of work. Hyenas are present in many<br />
pieces, and they act as both representations of the<br />
disregarded and misunderstood in society as well as a<br />
vessel for our instinctively carnal and licentious emotions<br />
condescendingly shunned by many. Altogether, hyenas<br />
represent the unapologetic and resilient advocacy for<br />
impulsive expression and acceptance of others.<br />
Hirst once said three-dimensional works obstruct space in<br />
the physical world; forcing the viewers to confront and<br />
interact with them therefore for two-dimensional works to<br />
be impactful, they must be shocking or interesting enough<br />
to grasp the viewers' attention. The visceral imagery<br />
frequent in the works, inspired by artists such as Bacon, are<br />
used to achieve this purpose. The gory imagery combined<br />
with the dark humour achieved through phallic shapes and<br />
Pop Culture references draw viewers into the twodimensional<br />
pieces while the intensity of reds and scale of<br />
certain pieces, influenced by Turrell and Eliasson, attempt<br />
to envelope the viewers.<br />
In three-dimensional pieces, readymades such as condoms<br />
and other common items seen in ‘Jesus Spelt Backwards<br />
Sounds a bit like Sausage’, add humour and are used in<br />
conjunction with the universal imagery of sausages to<br />
catalyse viewers’ interaction with the installation. Similar to<br />
Hirst’s ‘Natural History Series’, ‘Farm to Table’ not only<br />
uses preservation of organic matter to force confrontation<br />
with viewers but its time-based nature allows for rotting of<br />
the food products, producing a smell that pressures<br />
acknowledgement of the piece and the grizzly food<br />
ingredients in their rawest forms.<br />
‘Pedigree Series’ pieces are arranged in the same space<br />
where the one-meter diameter mandalas are arranged on<br />
the opposite wall of the medical posters. The medical<br />
posters were printed, laminated and arranged regularly<br />
to imitate the walls of a veterinarian office. The mandalas<br />
are all attached to wheels, allowing for viewers to spin the<br />
wheels. This interaction questions viewers as to whether or<br />
not they are responsible for the cyclic dog breeding cycle.<br />
Pieces with themes of food are arranged together;<br />
connected through imagery of sausages and visceral<br />
organic matter. The exhibition starts with ‘Placentophagy’<br />
and ‘Rearrange My Organs’ expressing the ignorant and<br />
care-free attitudes towards the macabre reality of<br />
consumerism. The atmosphere and imagery escalate,<br />
becoming more graphic and violent ending with the<br />
sausage installation which forces viewers to reflect and<br />
contemplate on commercial consumption. This<br />
visual and thematic escalation subverts the truth of<br />
commercialism and modern society, allowing viewers to<br />
decide where they stand on the tension between nature<br />
and development.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: April 2020<br />
Media: Oil Painting<br />
Title: Banquet of Lunchables<br />
Size H x W (x D): 42cm * 60cm<br />
Banquet of Lunchables conveys the detrimental effects<br />
of food which has resulted from advancements in<br />
technology and agriculture. While technology is seen as<br />
gaudy and beneficial, artificial foods and additives<br />
have purged the nutritional value from many foods,<br />
crippling the health of many that cannot afford<br />
exorbitant products marketed as organic or ethical. The<br />
renaissance painting inspired skin tones show the<br />
abhorred health consequences while the triangular<br />
structure conveys the cyclic quality of consumption.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: June 2020<br />
Media: Watercolor, Pen and Ink<br />
Title: Rearrange My Organs<br />
Size H x W (x D): 59cm * 42cm<br />
Society has materialised bodies to the point where<br />
we’ve separated from our anatomical selves. Inspired<br />
by the Mucha’s works and the <strong>Art</strong> Nouveau movement,<br />
Rearrange My Organs puts a twist on the classic<br />
‘Operation’ boardgame to express the hypnotic power<br />
media must glorify flesh and bone into immaculate<br />
objects. Satirical items such as ‘food baby’ and ‘McRib’<br />
mock the elevation and worship of bodily forms and<br />
aims to show that we are ultimately nothing more than<br />
organs, flesh and bone.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: June 2020<br />
Media: Charcoal and Colored Pencils<br />
Title: Felt Cute, Might Delete Later<br />
Size H x W (x D): 59cm * 84cm<br />
Humans possess a relentless desire to make things<br />
perfect and beautiful while concealing abhorrence's.<br />
Using the idea of social media filters, which shroud<br />
flaws, Felt Cute, Might Delete Later depicts a filter<br />
attempting to conceal the organic forms of a beef<br />
carcass. The incongruous juxtaposition emphasises the<br />
ridiculousness of this phenomenon while the contrast<br />
between the coloured filter and monochromatic piece<br />
shows the pointlessness and futility of the constant want<br />
to clean up and organise our surroundings.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: July 2020<br />
Media: Colored Pencils<br />
Title: Placentophagy<br />
Size H x W (x D): 42cm * 59cm<br />
Inspired by Kahlo’s use of anatomical imagery,<br />
Placentophagy shows the carnal bond we have forged<br />
between ourselves and commercial consumption. It aims<br />
to depict a weightless similar to that in a mother’s womb<br />
while the theme of a biological connection is emphasised<br />
by the umbilical cord like twizzlers and fleshy placental<br />
cross-sections. The ignorant expression questions our<br />
choices and desires for commercialism and artificial<br />
products.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: November 2020<br />
Media: Installation<br />
Title: Jesus Spelt Backwards Sounds A<br />
Bit Like Sausage<br />
Size H x W (x D): 1m * 1m * 2m<br />
Inspired heavily by contemporary installations by artists<br />
such as Hirst and Nauman, Jesus Spelt Backwards<br />
Sounds a bit like Sausage aims to create a surreal and<br />
delirious space that blurs the lines between organic and<br />
inorganic forms, subverting the dilemma between our<br />
familiarity with artificial products rather than our<br />
biological selves. The use of ready-mades enforce the<br />
lifelike qualities of the sculptures while the brassy<br />
quality of the glazes questions the extent artificiality is<br />
the norm in our society.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: November 2020<br />
Media: Mixed Media<br />
Title: From Farm to Table<br />
Size H x W (x D): 51cm * 28cm * 28cm<br />
This time-based sculpture shows the disconnect humans<br />
have with foods and their food sources. The exotic resin<br />
chicken heart eggs, inspired by Hirst’s Natural History<br />
Series, juxtapose with the familiar imagery of the<br />
breakfast. While the breakfast rots over time, the<br />
preserved resin hearts stay intact showing humans are<br />
only fixated on short-term delights, ignorant to the<br />
process and journey behind each dish and meal. The use<br />
of ready-mades forces confrontation to food in its<br />
rawest form.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: October 2020<br />
Media: Colored Pencils<br />
Title: Shanzi, Banzi and Ed<br />
Size H x W (x D): 42cm * 59cm<br />
Shanzi, Banzi and Ed explores the beauty in death<br />
returning us back to the purity and dynamism of nature<br />
from the rigid shackles of modern day life. The sofa<br />
references the comforts that blind us to the horrors of<br />
society such as pollution and constraint while triangular<br />
diagonals between hyenas show the vibrancy and<br />
excitement in nature. Color connotations of white<br />
emphasise the message where it’s funerary connotations<br />
in Asian cultures merge with connotations of purity in<br />
western cultures.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: March 2021<br />
Media: Colored Pencils<br />
Title: These Are All Things Out Of<br />
Your Control, You Can’t Really Think<br />
Of Solutions To Them, So Maybe You<br />
Should Stop Maddening Yourself<br />
Thinking About These Things<br />
Size H x W (x D): 42cm * 59cm<br />
Inspired by composition, techniques and themes of<br />
Wood’s American Gothic, the piece explores the<br />
yearning to grasp onto the dying ways of life of a<br />
simpler, humbler time. I aim to transcend the turbulence<br />
and anarchy of the warped ideologies in the modern<br />
world and my parent’s generation to cauterise a bond<br />
with my roots. The fish represents the elegance and<br />
beauty in butchery, a prominent aspect of my<br />
grandparent’s lives which is scorned and shunned by<br />
many nowadays.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: November 2020<br />
Media: Digital Software, Plywood Board,<br />
Cardstock Elastic String<br />
Title:<br />
Size H x W (x D): 42cm * 59cm, 1.6m, N/A<br />
This series composes of digital illustrations, mandalas<br />
and a short-looped clip which explore humans’ callous<br />
wants to control and tame nature resulting in sepulchral<br />
consequences. The series all show the crude circularity of<br />
the dog breeding process, exploring its glittery<br />
commercial end-products which hide the many medicalproblems<br />
and illnesses catalysed by forced-breeding.<br />
Inspired by DeVille’s taxidermy, omitting the pupils of<br />
the dogs emphasises that they are purely emotionless<br />
products we consume.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Mark W<br />
Date: March 2021<br />
Media: Oil Painting<br />
Title: Dolores, Delphine, Diana and<br />
Demi<br />
Size H x W (x D): 45cm * 90cm<br />
The satirical piece inspired by the movement and flow<br />
of Benton’s murals draws similarities between erotic<br />
internet scams and scavengers anticipating prey. Just as<br />
scavengers await mauled carcasses, scammers deceive<br />
others online using techniques such as false profiles. The<br />
predatorial and animalistic qualities present<br />
complimented by the visceral, organic imagery and long<br />
canvas shape, referencing phone screens, shows the<br />
primal similarities between nature and the human world.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Nathan L -<br />
Many of my pieces have religious (and more specifically,<br />
Christian) undertones. And the reason I’ve chosen to include<br />
religious references is because the use of satire on religion<br />
is an effective way to get viewers of art to think.<br />
Religion is a very broad and complex topic, with a long<br />
history to match. And by including religious themes into<br />
different aspects of my art, it aims to guide viewers into<br />
deeper thought about the contents of my pieces. By<br />
providing viewers with parallels to stories, themes and<br />
ideas sourced from religion, it gives them something to<br />
lend ideas from when trying to interpret the works. And<br />
especially because of my prevalent usage of robot<br />
imagery, I felt like it was necessary in order to lead<br />
viewers past a superficial understanding of robots as<br />
commonly seen in entertainment. And because my area of<br />
exploration —being sentience, life and technology— is<br />
based in speculation, my artworks holds no answers for<br />
any questions I try to raise through my art. This is why it is<br />
especially important that the viewers are properly<br />
encouraged to think when viewing my pieces. Any<br />
philosophical value my works may have will have to be<br />
created by the thoughts of the viewers themselves, as much<br />
of what I ponder in my art has no definitive answer, and<br />
I’m definitely not qualified to be setting any answers.<br />
For the technical arrangement of my pieces, I decided on<br />
a regular, linear arrangement. This gave me some control<br />
over the overall narrative of my exhibitions and allowed<br />
me to influence flow of how the pieces get viewed.<br />
Thought was also put into placement of pieces to ensure<br />
for matching colors between pieces to ensure a more<br />
pleasant holistic view of my series of pieces. And my<br />
greatest wish for the effort put into the exhibition is to<br />
leave the viewers in thought about the way they view<br />
technology. What do they see in the continuous<br />
development of increasingly complex machines? What do<br />
they want from technology; What are they comfortable<br />
with technology being? I want to invoke more exploration<br />
on the philosophy behind our making of machines, as we<br />
reach a point in time where technological advancement is<br />
accelerating faster than ever before.<br />
If viewers could contemplate automation as a result of<br />
seeing ‘The Day Humanity Lost its Job’; or if viewers could<br />
find parallels between the innate trust put in scientific<br />
theory and the devout faith put into religion after viewing<br />
‘The Second Coming’; or if viewers could reflect on the<br />
nature of the internet and how it influences our lives after<br />
walking away from ‘The Healing of the Blind’, I feel like all<br />
of this effort would have been worthwhile.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L<br />
Media: Pencil Drawing<br />
Title: Second Genesis<br />
Size H x W (x D): 84.1cm * 59.4cm<br />
My first piece. This marks the beginning of my exploration of the<br />
themes of Technology and its effects on the human condition. The<br />
potential of machine life intrigues me. A concept that’s portrayed<br />
often in the realms of entertainment and science fiction, but now,<br />
in 2021, machine life through artificial intelligence is becoming<br />
more and more feasible with the advancement of AI technology.<br />
Life harboured in computer systems and housed in a body of<br />
steel seems different enough to any form of organic life present<br />
on our planet. But upon further thought, one can draw parallels<br />
between our organic bodies and structures of complex<br />
mechanisms.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L<br />
Media: Woodcut Print<br />
Title: Digitized Soul: Adam<br />
Size H x W (x D): 30cm * 60cm<br />
The foundation of all ‘life’ on Earth, is based on the existence of<br />
cells, very complicated, very specific arrangements of complex<br />
molecules that perform pre-determined chemical reactions due to<br />
their arrangement. And though sentience grants for individuality<br />
and thought that differentiates Multi-cellular organisms,<br />
believing in the theory of evolution would imply that they are still<br />
based upon the chemical mechanics of cell structures. Upon this<br />
thought, is sentience by nature a structured, mechanical process<br />
that works within the framework of chemical interactions<br />
between cells?
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L<br />
Media: Sculpture<br />
Title: Digitized Soul: Eve<br />
Size H x W (x D): 30cm * 60cm<br />
Computer algorithms which form the basis of programming, work<br />
in a similar fashion to cells by listing out and initiating a set of<br />
predetermined actions to complete a specific task. So, if artificial<br />
intelligence does become complex enough to gain sentience the<br />
way cellular structures did according to the theory of evolution,<br />
would the difference in hardware change whether that artificial<br />
sentience can be determined as life?
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L<br />
Media: Digital Painting<br />
Title: The Day Humanity Lost its Job<br />
Size H x W (x D): 84.1cm * 59.4cm<br />
This piece was made as a reflection of the increased usage of<br />
AI, and the destruction of many jobs within a wide array of<br />
industries. The gradual perfection of AI technology, is funded by<br />
those with incentive to reduce the usage of employees; And its<br />
continued development piles onto the mountain of ash and bone<br />
belonging to displaced workers who lack the capability to move<br />
into the tech industry.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L<br />
Media: Digital Painting<br />
Title: If God is For Us, Who Can be<br />
Against Us?<br />
If we ever create something better than us, more powerful than<br />
us, would we still have the capability to control the creation? If<br />
humanity was to create a godlike being, would we still be above<br />
our creations? Or would our creations, like the gods of Olympus,<br />
destroy their creators to claim the title of sovereigns of the<br />
world?
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L<br />
Media: Edited Photography Series<br />
Title: (1) The Last Supper, (2) Ascension,<br />
(3) Revelation<br />
What would happen if AI was to develop sentience like we did<br />
as it becomes more and more sophisticated, the way organic<br />
organisms did through evolution? If AI gained their own free will<br />
and developed their own goals for their existence, would<br />
humanity as their creators still be able to dictate their actions to<br />
align with the interests of humanity? Or would that sentience<br />
grow into malice? Or perhaps a disdain for our biological<br />
limitations and the flaws that sully human society? As beings not<br />
bound to human nature, what could they achieve without<br />
humanity pulling its strings?
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L<br />
Media: Digital Painting<br />
Title: The Healing of the Blind<br />
Size H x W (x D): 84.1cm * 59.4cm<br />
The creation of the internet has gathered all of human<br />
knowledge, and collected many varieties of human opinion,<br />
regardless of good or bad. Don’t know something? Ask the<br />
internet! This entity formed from the collective entirety of<br />
humanity, has reached an almost god-like existence, possessing<br />
knowledge that amounts to that of all the people in the world,<br />
far greater than any one person in the world could ever possess.<br />
And it answers the prayers of anyone who seeks its wisdom,<br />
enlightening them and directing them to whatever knowledge or<br />
item they may come to desire that is within its realm.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L<br />
Media: Oil Painting<br />
Title: Rebirth<br />
Human society at large is becoming more and more ingrained<br />
with technology. The availability of mobile technology has<br />
become so widespread that it has become strange to see a<br />
person without a mobile phone in many societies. With the<br />
continued reliance on technology being boosted by the COVID<br />
19 pandemic, one can’t help but think how much further people<br />
will be willing to integrate technology into their lives.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Nathan L<br />
Media: Oil Painting<br />
Title: The Second Coming<br />
Size H x W (x D): 84.1cm * 59.4cm<br />
Humanity has worshipped many gods throughout the coming and<br />
going of cultures, and people may be coming to worship<br />
something new without even realizing: Technological<br />
development.<br />
Speaking from my own experience, I felt like growing up,<br />
technological development was always celebrated as a good<br />
thing, and eventually, my brain recognized all technological<br />
developments as good things. I blindly celebrated headlines of<br />
groundbreaking technological advancements without deep<br />
thought on what was being celebrated, and I don’t think I was<br />
alone in that. Different people have different aspirations and<br />
interests, and not all technological research and development<br />
would benefit different demographics equally.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Olivia W -<br />
Although majority of my art works were inspired by<br />
famous artists such as Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Düerer,<br />
Sarah Lucas and many others stated on my process<br />
portfolio, some pieces were inspired more by literature.<br />
Two pieces of literary work that influenced me a lot<br />
conceptually was Dante’s “Inferno” and an unofficial<br />
manual scrip of Jules Verne called “Paris in the Twentieth<br />
Century”. Both stories tell us the moral of evil will always<br />
be punished. However, I began to wonder if the sinners in<br />
Inferno should be given a second chance at redemption or<br />
whether they must be defined by a single sin they have<br />
committed. These thought resonated with my personal life<br />
as I believe everyone must has committed one of the seven<br />
deadly since to a certain degree: binge eating or<br />
gluttony, Procrastination or sloth. This is when I noticed the<br />
blurred line between sin and redemption.<br />
My body of work began as an exploration into the<br />
cohabitation of good and evil in the world we live in,<br />
however as I dove further down this concept, I found that<br />
my interest in sins sprung from my own self doubt. I<br />
realised that the first piece I created in this series “In time,<br />
we sin” was a form of self-reflection because I was<br />
questioning my own morals and reflecting on the “sins” I’ve<br />
committed during that period. Therefore, the main theme<br />
behind my work transitioned into a doorway of my own<br />
perception of society and my own story of growth in<br />
relations to, the good, the sins, the growth, and<br />
redemption.<br />
A difficulty I faced when putting the series together was<br />
connecting all the pieces together visually because I was<br />
desperate to explore different styles of expression.<br />
Though I also believe the diverse appearance of my work<br />
builds on to the conceptual bond between the pieces as it<br />
is a good representation of my personal growth as an<br />
artist. Inspired by history painting which emphasise it’s<br />
subject and not style, my work documents a story or an<br />
emotion in the moment. yet a classical and decorative art<br />
style flows through the oil painting pieces which is an art<br />
style that I believe best displays my technical skills and<br />
fulfils my need for visual satisfaction.<br />
Pieces such as “In time, we sin”, “Abstinence” and “ Paris in<br />
the Twentieth century (my version)” are reactions to my<br />
first experience stepping into society and noticing the close<br />
proximity between good and evil occurrences in our world.<br />
These pieces are aimed to display the blatant truth of<br />
human nature, both good and bad to tell the audiences<br />
that “it is what it is” and we can only forgive, whether<br />
others or ourselves, or we can work towards redemption.<br />
Other pieces such as “Soup?” , “Current” and “The process<br />
of self actualisation” portray my urge to grow and<br />
improve. These pieces were all results of discontent with<br />
my myself: whether an action of greed, cowardliness or a<br />
lack of creativity. Since I have always categorised self<br />
hate as a “sin”, I must grow and develop new self worth to<br />
forgive myself. These paintings recorded the process of me<br />
breaking the habits causing my discontent and moving<br />
forward with new ideas and skills.<br />
For this exhibition, this collection of work will be place<br />
across a long back-board in a circular ring.<br />
Though there is no specific starting point on the circle, the<br />
pieces will be placed clock-wise in chronological order.<br />
Beginning with “In time, we sin” and finishing with “The<br />
process of self actualisation” except for “Daydream<br />
no813”, which is an animation that will be played in a<br />
loop in the centre of the circle. The outer ring of artworks<br />
will create cohesion with the waves moving in circular<br />
motion in the animation projected in the centre. I want my<br />
audience to be connected The purpose all the artworks<br />
being in chronological is to give the audience the sense of<br />
a story-line. With each new piece the audience views, a<br />
new story of growth is told. Although my personal<br />
experiences are pivotal for the execution of these pieces, I<br />
want my audience to become connected with the stories<br />
each artwork documents. Therefore, the series will be<br />
placed in chronological order of its creation so the<br />
audience can view each piece as part of a story-line.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: March 2020<br />
Media: Oil on Canvas<br />
Title: Girl, Umbrella and Mask<br />
Size H x W (x D): 30in * 30in<br />
During the self-quarantine period of COVID19. I began to<br />
discover details of my life that I have never noticed before: Like<br />
this statue that has always sat in my compound. This piece was<br />
created with thin layers of oil paint to mimic the classical art<br />
style of historical paintings. I did this because I want this painting<br />
to document the emotions in such a tragic yet special period. The<br />
blue colour scheme here is also a projection of the doom<br />
humanity seemed to have brought upon themselves.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Watercolor, Micron Pen and Paper<br />
Title: Paris In The Twentieth Century<br />
Size H x W (x D): 15in * 20in<br />
The sins humanity has committed will always caught up to us.<br />
This was inspired by an unpublished book of Jules Verne’s called<br />
“Paris in the twentieth century”. Watercolour and ink is used to<br />
set the atmosphere for a dystopian because the story talks<br />
about a society so fixated on economics, technology, and<br />
progress that it neglects what makes us human.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: 2019<br />
Media: Woodcut and Print<br />
Title: Forgive Me.<br />
Size H x W (x D): 11in * 15in<br />
Jesus, Judas, Brutas and Cassius is braved carved into the same<br />
from following the style of Durer. The doorway shape of the<br />
composition follows the constant geometries present in my pieces.<br />
This doorway is also a reference to the stations of the cross that<br />
entails the story of Christ. However, despite all controversies, I<br />
created this composition with the sinners and Jesus in the same<br />
frame to suggest an alternative ending with the potential of<br />
second chances.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: 2019<br />
Media: Micron Pen on Paper<br />
Title: In Time, We Sin<br />
Size H x W (x D): 27in * 27in<br />
This is a self-reflection of my sins and ways to achieve<br />
redemption. I used micron pens to recreate intricate scenes from<br />
Dante’s inferno and fragments of my childhood.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: 2019<br />
Media: Mixed Media<br />
Title: Current<br />
Size H x W (x D): 19in * 27in<br />
Currents means both the present situation and a resistant wave<br />
of water. Both relevant to my continues self-reflection through<br />
art. Since I was born in the year of horse in the Chinese<br />
calendar, here, the horse represents myself. The horse breaking<br />
through the current is a message to myself to be braver when<br />
facing my mistakes and moving forward but also a reminder of<br />
my own capability. Pearls, crystals and corals create a beautiful<br />
pattern beneath the horse’s hooves: though I have made<br />
mistakes, I can still bring beauty into my life.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Digital Illustration<br />
Title: Soup<br />
Size H x W (x D): 7in * 10in<br />
I found an old painting that was unfinished. I decided to scan the<br />
original painting and use both Procreate and Photoshop to<br />
refine it. This is a portrayal of growth as we grow, the world<br />
grows with us, and we create to make our lives easier and more<br />
accessible.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Media: Mixed Media<br />
Title: Digital Animation<br />
Size H x W (x D): 5 seconds<br />
A 40 frame, digitally animated loop of a dream that kept on<br />
repeating itself. Each from was drawn digitally on procreate. In<br />
my dream I was the rubber dolphin floating and twirling the<br />
current being washed clean of bad karma so I can wake up to a<br />
new day.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Mixed Media<br />
Title: Tops<br />
Size H x W (x D): 3in * 5in<br />
The process of making this piece felt as if I was creating a new<br />
life and playing dress-up with it. Each sculpture began with only<br />
wire and tin foil (the bones), then I sculpted and sanded clay<br />
over the tin foil (the muscles and skin). If creating these bodies is<br />
a sin of flesh would be covering them with clothes be enough for<br />
forgiveness.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Mixed Media<br />
Title: Abstinence<br />
Size H x W (x D): 20in * 35in<br />
To become a monk, man needs to follow strict rules and once<br />
man as committed to monastery he must remain in abstinence for<br />
the rest of his life. Yet here I used soft brush strokes and sheer<br />
paint to create feminine features for these men and allowed<br />
these monks to break their rules of abstinence. Am I helping them<br />
break the rules? Or am I showing you what has always been<br />
broken in the places our sight cannot reach?
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Oil on Canvas<br />
Title: The Process of Self Actualization<br />
Size H x W (x D): 19in * 27in<br />
I began the process by choosing an old piece of art I created.<br />
The unfinished oil painting of a terracotta soldier seemed the<br />
most suitable because the soldier is painted using a realistic<br />
style. The terracotta soldier is also symbolic of order and<br />
discipline in ancient times, an analogy for my old-fashioned art<br />
style. I created layers on top of the original piece with white<br />
acrylic and patterns to incorporate elements of modern art.<br />
After I have simplified a realistic drawing into a single stroke of<br />
line work, I decided to disrupt the painting’s comfort on the twodimensional<br />
scale by taking apart the canvas and the frame.<br />
The process of creating this piece helped me grow as an artist as<br />
I was able to truly embrace the freedom and formlessness of<br />
modern art. By lifting the restriction of a painting being two<br />
dimensional, I have begun to fix my habit of being focused<br />
strictly on techniques when creating art.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Olivia W<br />
Date: 2020<br />
Media: Clay<br />
Title: Box of Lust<br />
Size H x W (x D): 20in * 6in<br />
Photo transferring with glue is used to project my own<br />
photography of abuse and the victims of sins of lust and flesh.<br />
onto these clay boxes. However, these cases happen more often<br />
than you would think and maybe we should all look into the<br />
mirror.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Rownie Z -<br />
The artworks I have made surrounds the idea of the loss of<br />
innocence and anxiety that one goes through in the<br />
process of growing up. Hence, my pieces have themes to<br />
deep-felt emotions expressed through various subjects,<br />
tones, colors and more. My work is at times inspired by my<br />
own feelings that have stemmed from my life’s interconnectives.<br />
My pieces encompass a range of emotions,<br />
inflicted and symbolized by the styles of each piece. I<br />
chose this theme because I believe that it is something that<br />
impacts every one of our lives, each person has an impact<br />
on others’ lives in a range of ways. There are more intense<br />
impacts, which is what I have chosen to focus on. I have<br />
chosen the affect of action and into feelings.<br />
I have tried to express this concept in vastly different ways<br />
in terms of medium, content, lighting, tones and more. For<br />
example, the oil painting, “Breaking Point” portrays my<br />
vision of an endless pile of to-dos and mind-numbing tasks.<br />
The hapless disorder of the working space interferes with<br />
my resultant work, and thereby creating a scene of frenzy.<br />
The curiously out of place nature of some objects such as<br />
the eggs, assorted candies and cat seem outwardly<br />
random, but holds some significance in my working life.<br />
The cracked eggs reflect on the pressure my parents and<br />
their need for perfection as eggs tend to be visually<br />
smooth, blemish-less and aesthetically pleasing. Moreover,<br />
the egg when covered in all angles is hard to break and<br />
proves to be stronger than if there were only one point of<br />
attack on the egg, just as if I was swaddled in the hands<br />
of others.<br />
I chose the area due to the natural lighting. I like the half<br />
obscured, indirect beams of light shining upon the artworks<br />
give them a more subdued look instead of direct light.<br />
Firstly, I chose the staircase because I have a few vertical<br />
works that I could layer on top of one another, such as<br />
“The truth about the color red”. The perspective when the<br />
viewer comes down the stairs would slowly reveal the<br />
artworks, giving a slow dramatic reveal, adding suspense<br />
to each work. Some of my works tend to have darker<br />
themes which works for the archway under the stairs. I<br />
have placed my clay work “Monotony” on a stool within a<br />
display box on the bend of the stairway. This will allow<br />
the viewers to peer down into the box. The small box of<br />
harsh light from beneath the case envelop the miniature<br />
foods and the<br />
My other main artworks include “Control” and<br />
“Multitudes”, both monotone works that<br />
Have a darker tone to them. They both are clouded in the<br />
dark vignettes that portrays the hold and influence that<br />
we as a society have on each other. The influence can be<br />
in many ways, whether it be physical boundaries, the<br />
latter artwork or psychological control, like in “Control”.<br />
The lack of colour presents as the viewer walks down the<br />
stairs. I want to utilize the darker tones on the arch, so that<br />
students may look directly at the work when walking down<br />
the stairs due to the streams of light coming from above. I<br />
chose to use wood print and charcoal for these works<br />
because the texture adds frenzy to the works. The jagged<br />
edges mirror the anger and frustration in both works.<br />
Hollowitz was a major inspiration for my works - her<br />
inspiration being the violence of war. When wars break<br />
out, age no longer matters, boys as young as 15 were<br />
drafted into World War Two and even adolescence’ are<br />
used as warfare in the middle east.<br />
I am putting my work on the wall across the open light<br />
window, to shine dim, natural light onto the artwork. The<br />
focus from the act of walking down the stairs change as<br />
the angle changes giving different perspective for the<br />
audience. My pieces such as “Drowning”, “Familial Love”,<br />
“Standards” and more. The focal point being the new<br />
explosion of colors as a turning point going down the<br />
stairs. My main influence is people, society and the<br />
surrounding connections, just as many of the artists I have<br />
chosen of influence: Giagometti, Sherman and Warhol.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: February 2020<br />
Media: Oil Paint on Fiber Board<br />
Title: Breaking Point<br />
Size H x W (x D): 59cm * 84cm<br />
The concept for this piece of work is the idea of how stress can<br />
affect one’s surroundings. Often people who are depressed or<br />
stressed have very messy rooms and this worsens people’s<br />
moods. My idea for my oil painting piece is to portray the<br />
chaotic mess through stacking and piling things together. I went<br />
with bright colours so that the imagery was even more<br />
overwhelming and displeasing to the eyes. I chose to use these<br />
items as symbolism to show the effects that mental illness has on<br />
one’s physical state.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: October 2020<br />
Media: Clay<br />
Title: Monotony<br />
Size H x W (x D): 10cm * 6cm * 3cm<br />
This clay piece represents toneless, repetitive nature of life<br />
represented through breakfast, lunch, dinner and desert dishes. I<br />
used stereotypical dishes to represent the averageness of each<br />
day being the same. For the clay, I made them small so they'd<br />
be more daintily shaped. The colors of glaze covering the clay<br />
was mostly classic beiges, grays, browns and greens. I used the<br />
fiery red to contrast the rest of the monotonous colors. Each dish<br />
has a splash of color to convey the small amount of light left in a<br />
life filled with the same routines. The foods I've chosen are all<br />
simplistic meals that a typical western family would eat. There is<br />
a good spread of meat, vegetables, fruit and carbohydrates for<br />
a balanced but not very varied meal - adding onto the benign<br />
look of the plates.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: May 2020<br />
Media: Makeup on Skin<br />
Title: Growth and Decay<br />
This photography piece of a makeup look I did alludes to the<br />
ever-present growing and withering that happens with all things<br />
- which is made clearer with the clock. I took the photo with the<br />
brightness turned slightly down (-0.3) and looking up towards<br />
the general direction of the sky. For the makeup process, From<br />
the smaller photos, one can see that it is of two girls, one girl<br />
holding a dying leaf plant and the other clasping a bouquet of<br />
flowers. They represent the two ends of life and death. I<br />
contrasted the pale, grey blue of the wall and my skin with the<br />
dark purple of my makeup and my black hair.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: October 2020<br />
Media: Thread around Nails on Board<br />
Title: Ren-yu-ren<br />
Size H x W (x D): 40cm * 40cm<br />
I used thread to create this image of two hands clasped<br />
together. The thread used is meant to represent the connection in<br />
people, whether bad or good, is vital to a person's life. Without<br />
others, one is nothing. In the form of a partner, a friend, a family<br />
member, or even an enemy, connection is what keeps us all sane.<br />
As one grows older, there are a lot of changes within their life<br />
and people around them will come and go. This thread work<br />
reflects on the strength it takes to keep people within your life.<br />
The loss of innocence stems from realizing that after the<br />
education years, everyone separates and leaves.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: September 2020<br />
Media: Photography<br />
Title: Truth About the Color Red<br />
This photography series centers around the color red. In each<br />
photo, red signifies a different happening- a ray of hope, a new<br />
beginning/an olive branch (as in extending an olive branch) and<br />
finally, a perversion of love. Perspectively shown through the<br />
image of my favourite childhood stories. These stories are in<br />
order from top to bottom: The Little Match Girl, Beauty and the<br />
Beast and Little Red Riding Hood. The red is a versatile way to<br />
show not all things that are perceived in one way are true. The<br />
motifs I've presented in each of the tales are presented in a<br />
more adult view. It connotes that as one grows older, there is a<br />
different, more mature way of understanding life. Most<br />
importantly, one's innocence is lost, and we become more prone<br />
to better see the truth in acts.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: August 2019<br />
Media: Pencil and Charcoal<br />
Title: Multitudes<br />
Size H x W (x D): 74cm * 108cm<br />
When planning the drawing, I wanted the different faces be<br />
more and more chaotic while the peaceful one resided in the<br />
back. Through this I am trying to show how stress and anxiety<br />
can easily control someone’s actions and thoughts. The<br />
interlocking insinuates that all these messy sides that ‘jump out’<br />
come from one person. I wanted the middle face to be mask-like,<br />
a false image of perfection (hence why it is so perfect and<br />
smoothy rendered).
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: November 2019<br />
Media: Ink on Newsprint<br />
Title: Control<br />
Size H x W (x D): 42cm * 59cm<br />
When researching for this art piece, I was really interested in<br />
Kollowitz’s work and one of her main ideas is the emphasis on<br />
hands to show emotion and its presence in most of her<br />
compositions. The gestures the hands make signify the message<br />
or theme in the artwork. I wanted to encorporate that into my<br />
own work so I decided to focus dominance of others and lack of<br />
control over oneself. I wanted this to be embodied by large<br />
hands that appear to control and manipulate a subject’s face<br />
and upper body. In my composition, there are five hands,<br />
covering the subject in different places. By covering the eyes, it<br />
symbolises the loss of control over a vital sense of perception.<br />
Especially as a girl, I am taught that a man will someday control<br />
my life as the patriarchal head. Given these expectations, along<br />
with most girls growing up in a traditional family, we normalize<br />
the behavior allowing more power over us.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: January 2021<br />
Media: Oil Paint on Fiber Board<br />
Title: I’m A Mess<br />
Size H x W (x D): 59cm * 84cm<br />
This piece is inspired by Cindy Sherman’s photography of girls<br />
with tacky dresses and caked on makeup. Starting to wear<br />
makeup is a sign of growing up and maturing. With this piece, I<br />
wanted to represent the state of feeling like one’s drowning<br />
through the phase of one’s teenage years – being uncertain of<br />
one’s place in the world.<br />
The clown-like makeup represents the feelings of putting on a<br />
mask and showing your best face to the world despite being<br />
metaphorically under water.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: August 2020<br />
Media: Digital<br />
Title: I’m A Mess<br />
Size H x W (x D): A3<br />
This digital piece has themes similar too “I’m a mess”. I have<br />
portrayed this blurry, wavy peripheral view as a result of the<br />
tears and symbolistic crying. The makeup is very smudged and<br />
disorganized, but vibrant. This portrays a young child trying on<br />
makeup for the first time yet being told off for it. There are<br />
expectations of beauty yet putting on makeup is taboo at<br />
a young age. There are coloured contacts and double eye-lid<br />
tape which changes a person’s image instead of enhancing it.<br />
Moreover, my features become more Eurocentric, showing the<br />
effect of a girl’s evolution due to the outside influence of social<br />
media and peer pressure.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Rownie Z<br />
Date: March 2021<br />
Media: Watercolour<br />
Title: Family<br />
This work is about the limitations and boundaries in family. I<br />
have chosen to change my clothing to differentiate myself from<br />
the rest of my family. The reference photo was taken at my<br />
family dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve. It is a tradition in my<br />
family and many other Chinese families to bring together both<br />
the paternal and maternal sides. As I grew up in Canada, I’ve<br />
always felt a certain alienation from my family at times like<br />
these. The older I grow, the more I realize that my morals and<br />
life values are different from that of my parents and that at<br />
times makes me very<br />
foreign.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Ruthie L -<br />
During the two-year <strong>IB</strong> course, I explored different aspects<br />
of the theme memory. Memories leave us traces of our<br />
earlier self, provides us with a sense of identity and forms<br />
our continual experience of life. As said by Oscar Wilde,<br />
“Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.” It<br />
is valuable to maintain our emotional linkages with the<br />
past and cultivate our memory.<br />
Though it seems as if our memories and intimate<br />
recollections are entirely personal and can not be<br />
interfered by others, our memories are actually constantly<br />
altered and reshaped by social interactions—memory is<br />
almost never a solitary activity. My clay sculpture A lone<br />
or not explores the interdependency of our recollections<br />
and how social networks can mold our memories. The<br />
compressed and interlocking form of the human faces<br />
symbolize the effect of social pressure and external<br />
influences on an individual’s memory. The clone-like pink<br />
faces surrounding the isolated grey face reflect the social<br />
contagion of memories and the pressure of social<br />
conformity.<br />
Our memories are vulnerable to social influences because<br />
they are fallible and malleable. Each time we revisit a<br />
memory they become subject to mistakes and<br />
embellishments. For my mixed media installation<br />
Impermanent, I used the process of sewing and cutting to<br />
symbolize the continuous loss and formation of our<br />
memories.<br />
I used red and white as these colors are generally<br />
associated with both destruction and construction. The<br />
ephemeral and transitory nature of our memory is<br />
reflected by the temporary quality of the installation.<br />
My next projects “Ideal” and For: me and my brother<br />
explored the effect of social pressure and generational<br />
memories on an individual’s perspectives. Generationally<br />
adopted memories may influence the perspectives of<br />
entire generations and beyond. From the Admonitions for<br />
Women of the Qing dynasty to the Shanghai Lady posters<br />
of the1930s, deeply entrenched stereotypes towards<br />
women are ingrained in our memories and the Chinese<br />
society. My d rawing series “ I d e a l ” a cts as a<br />
recontextualization of the book Admonitions for Women<br />
and the Shanghai Lady posters. Admonitions for Women<br />
was a set of guidelines that women from the past must<br />
abide by, and the Shanghai Lady posters were posters of<br />
Chinese women dressed in silk Qipao with European<br />
accoutrements , in sexually suggestive poses. The<br />
combination of these features and the exaggerated<br />
feminine characteristics of the figures, I believe, will evoke<br />
memories of past ideals and prompt viewers to reevaluate<br />
present societal ideals that they may be conforming to<br />
unconsciously. For: me and my brother was based on<br />
personal childhood memories and experiences in relation<br />
to the male gender preference phenomenon common in<br />
multigenerational Chinese families. The monochrome visual<br />
characteristic of a shadow puppetry performance and the<br />
manipulation of silhouettes, shadows, and light symbolize<br />
the past and the recollection of a former memory.<br />
Mundane behaviors that are repeated over time form<br />
recurring memories.<br />
These repetitious memories drain our energy and<br />
enthusiasm, leaving us unable to restore excitement and<br />
spontaneity to our everyday lives. The muted color scheme,<br />
blurry transitions, and rigid triptych composition of my oil<br />
painting series 15.07.20 - 25.08.20 reflected the<br />
monotony of my daily routine. By photographing these<br />
paintings in its original context around the house, I<br />
examined the links between my memories and the present.<br />
Similarly, my digital drawing piece Everyday explored the<br />
fading of our everyday memories. The rough sketching<br />
style and plain color of the piece symbolize the loss of<br />
factual detail and visual vividness of our recollections as<br />
time progresses.<br />
For the exhibition, I used a dark and enclosed area to<br />
present my installation piece to enable viewers to interact<br />
with the artworks closely and fully immerse in the<br />
experience. The limited light contributed to a dim and<br />
blurred view which reflected the fading and intangible<br />
nature of our memories. My 2D projects were presented<br />
on walls across the room with larger paintings placed at<br />
the center to balance the scattered feeling of the smaller<br />
digital pieces. Through the wide range of medium used<br />
and concepts explored relating to human memory, I hope<br />
to emphasize the variety and complexity of our memories.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L<br />
Media: Oil Painting, Photography<br />
Title: 15.07.20 – 25.08.20<br />
Size H x W (x D): 50cm * 50cm,<br />
30cm *30cm, 5568px * 3712px<br />
Mundane behaviors that are repeated over time form recurring<br />
memories. These repetitious memories drain our energy and<br />
enthusiasm, leaving us unable to restore excitement and<br />
spontaneity to our everyday lives. This series was painted to<br />
provide a catharsis for my frustration and a creative outlet of<br />
emotion to externalize my stress. The muted color scheme, blurry<br />
transitions, and rigid triptych composition reflected the monotony<br />
of my daily routine. By photographing these paintings in its<br />
original context around the house, I examined the links between<br />
my memories and the present.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L<br />
Media: Drawing<br />
Title: “Ideal”<br />
Size H x W (x D): 21cm * 29.7cm<br />
Generationally adopted memories may influence the<br />
perspectives of entire generations and beyond. From the<br />
Admonitions for Women of the Qing dynasty to the Shanghai<br />
Lady posters of the1930s, deeply entrenched stereotypes<br />
towards women are ingrained in our memories and the Chinese<br />
society. This series is a recontextualization of the Admonitions for<br />
Women and the Shanghai Lady posters. The delicate tight<br />
hatching and exaggerated feminine features, I believe, will<br />
evoke memories of past ideals and prompt viewers to<br />
reevaluate present societal ideals that they may be conforming<br />
to unconsciously.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L<br />
Media: Photography<br />
Title: “Ideal”<br />
Size H x W (x D): 2560px * 1800px<br />
Generational memories and societal ideals can be formed,<br />
manipulated, and renewed. Posters from my last project were<br />
burned as a way of metaphorically demolishing gender<br />
confinement and obsolete stereotypical expectations. Fire and<br />
the process of burning was used as a symbolism for<br />
transformation and renewal.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L<br />
Media: Digital Painting<br />
Title: Will It Stay With Me?<br />
Size H x W (x D): 2760px * 2760px<br />
Often, our most nostalgic memories and precious experiences<br />
are found in our childhood and young adulthood. This project<br />
was inspired by doodles from eleven years ago. As a sevenyear-old,<br />
I paid attention to the smallest nuances and subtleties<br />
of life—the conch decor in my bathtub, the natural patterns on a<br />
mushroom, and the iridescent gleam of a fish scale. Through this<br />
project, I celebrated my memories by piecing fragments of my<br />
whimsical childhood fantasies. The vibrant colors and cartoonlike<br />
style of depiction reflects childhood innocence and naivety.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L<br />
Media: Mixed-Media Construction<br />
Title: Impermanent<br />
Size H x W (x D): 180cm * 180cm * 250cm<br />
Memories are fallible and malleable. Each time we revisit a<br />
memory they become subject to mistakes and embellishments. I<br />
used the process of sewing and cutting fabric and thread to<br />
symbolize the continuous loss and formation of our memories. The<br />
ephemeral and transitory nature of our memory is reflected by<br />
the temporary quality of the installation.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L<br />
Media: Mixed-Media Construction,<br />
Animation<br />
Title: In Response To Covid-19<br />
Size H x W (x D): 180cm * 180cm * 250cm,<br />
1270px * 720px<br />
Our memories of negative experiences tend to be more vivid<br />
than those of positive experiences. The recent coronavirus<br />
pandemic has upended people’s lives and brought catastrophic<br />
impacts worldwide. Our memories of this disastrous event have<br />
imbued us with an awareness of the interdependence of man<br />
and nature and the negative impacts of human encroachment<br />
into natural landscapes. Similar to the penetrating effect of an<br />
X-ray, our memory of the event has enabled us to examine<br />
deeper beneath the surface of our actions.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L<br />
Media: Mixed-Media Construction,<br />
Animation<br />
Title: A lone Or Not<br />
Size H x W (x D): 40cm * 30cm * 5cm<br />
Though it seems as if our memories and intimate recollections are<br />
entirely personal and can not be interfered by others, our<br />
memories are constantly altered and reshaped by social<br />
interactions—memory is almost never a solitary activity. This clay<br />
sculpture explores the interdependency of our recollections and<br />
how social networks can mould our memories through the<br />
compressed and interlocking form of the human faces.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L<br />
Media: Video and Performance<br />
Title: For: Me and My Brother<br />
Size H x W (x D): 100cm * 80cm * 10cm<br />
This piece is based on personal childhood memories and<br />
experiences in relation the male gender preference phenomenon<br />
common in multigenerational Chinese families. The monochrome<br />
visual characteristic of a shadow puppetry performance and the<br />
manipulation of silhouettes, shadows, and light symbolize the<br />
past and the recollection of a former memory. The breaking and<br />
reforming of the Cuju (wool ball), often used as a symbol for<br />
maturity, correspond to the changes in my sibling relationship<br />
with my brother.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Ruthie L<br />
Media: Digital Drawing<br />
Title: Everyday<br />
Size H x W (x D): 1080px * 1440cm<br />
This piece explores the fading of our everyday memories. The<br />
rough sketching style and plain color of the piece symbolize the<br />
loss of factual detail and visual vividness of our recollections as<br />
time progresses.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Tyler Y
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
- Tyler Y -<br />
My vision for my body of work is to explore the<br />
connections and differences between man-made<br />
technology and nature’s intricate mechanisms. Even though<br />
technology can create vehicles that can travel at the<br />
speed of sound, and cure previously deadly diseases,<br />
nature’s creations such as dragonflies and eyes still cannot<br />
be replicated with technology by humanity.<br />
I observe things in everyday life and have noticed how<br />
many of humanity’s technologies emulates nature’s<br />
organisms. Such as hydraulics from insect legs and cameras<br />
from eyeballs. One theme that you may identify<br />
throughout my art is that humanity learns excessively from<br />
imitating nature, and builds upon it. A shell or exoskeleton<br />
inspires armor and protection to protect the vulnerabilities<br />
within, sea creatures inspire sea-faring vessels, and some<br />
simply show attempts by humanity to replicate and control<br />
the forces of nature.<br />
Half of my pieces are made on digital mediums, which<br />
demonstrates how humanity has been attempting to<br />
emulate nature through simulation and technology,<br />
whereas the others are made with more traditional,<br />
“natural” mediums.<br />
My woodcut, for example, is a representation of the<br />
process of humans imitating things from nature to<br />
incorporate into our own technology, in order to sate our<br />
own curiosities and ambitions. In the Fish-Printer animation,<br />
the printer represents humanity’s desire to perfect<br />
imitations of natural organisms through artificial<br />
production.<br />
The topic of imitation and exploration crops up in a few of<br />
my artworks, as the curiosity of mankind is one of its<br />
defining traits. In the woodcut, mankind explores the deep<br />
oceans. In my sculpture, mankind finds ways to reach the<br />
vastness of space. In my space-themed digital piece, it<br />
explores the possibilities of life outside our solar system. I<br />
experimented with a bug-like creature with a protective<br />
exoskeleton, as human astronauts wear ridiculous amounts<br />
of protection to be able to move around in space. The<br />
flower in the background was known as a carrion flower<br />
which is infamous for smelling like rotten flesh, attracting<br />
insects and the like. I felt like the design would make an<br />
interesting space station that looks almost organic.<br />
I felt that my digital work will have a significant effect on<br />
how viewers see my artwork. This is due to the more<br />
liberated nature of creating an exhibition in a digital<br />
space. Digital space allows me to do things that would<br />
otherwise be impossible in a real-life environment, such as<br />
very, very large display spaces and floating objects. The<br />
exhibition space can also then be customized so that the<br />
pieces have a connection with each other and that I can<br />
create a custom space so that each piece can have its<br />
relative space inside the virtual space with each other.<br />
I intend for my audience to feel fortunate and extremely<br />
lucky to be alive, to live in a society and world built upon<br />
many centuries of exploration and innovation. I want them<br />
to think of how the world has been shaped around them,<br />
and how unique our circumstances are in the universe. Our<br />
entire existence is owed to an unbelievable string of<br />
coincidences, each an intersection between opportunity<br />
and ambition. We do not think these things in our<br />
everyday life, yet we are indebted to them, and our way<br />
of life is possible entirely due to them. I wish for the<br />
audience to have a deeper understanding of the<br />
significance of our lives, and to cherish the existence of<br />
themselves and others around them.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Tyler Y<br />
Media: Graphite on Paper<br />
Title: Pipe Train<br />
Size H x W (x D): 350mm * 500mm<br />
This art piece was inspired by Redmer Hoekstra’s and Vladimir<br />
Gvozdev’s artworks. The concept of mixing machinery with<br />
organisms stem from their artwork, while the choice of<br />
composition and perspective was my own choice. The snail was<br />
chosen as a representation of the slow but sure progress of<br />
humanity, and also because snails are narrow, and would fit<br />
onto a pipe not dissimilar to how a train fits onto its tracks.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Tyler Y<br />
Media: Sculpture - Ceramic<br />
Title: Lobster Rocket<br />
Size H x W (x D): 200mm * 140mm<br />
This art piece was inspired by John Brickels’ work and an interest<br />
in space-flight and exploration on my own part. The Lobster<br />
represents the long periods of development, of both the<br />
evolution of sea creatures into lobsters and of humanity<br />
developing the technology that makes spaceflight possible. The<br />
lobster also represents the hardiness and perseverance that are<br />
requirements to survive, in both everyday life and space.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Tyler Y<br />
Media: Woodcut Print<br />
Title: The Deep<br />
Size H x W (x D): 1000mm * 500mm<br />
This art piece was inspired by Käthe Kollwitz’s woodcut pieces.<br />
The idea is about deep-sea exploration, and how humanity<br />
braces the difficulties of ocean exploration rather than cowering<br />
on land. This woodcut was cut, and inspiration was drawn from<br />
ship navigation systems and movement, and stingrays and old<br />
diving suits. Did you know that we know more about space than<br />
about the ocean on our own planet?
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Tyler Y<br />
Media: Oil Painting<br />
Title: Reusable Masks<br />
Size H x W (x D): 500mm * 500mm<br />
Rinse and reuse, or iron then wear again. The COVID-19<br />
pandemic has brought many difficulties and changes to our<br />
everyday lives. Masks get used most frequently and sometimes<br />
rubbish collectors collect them and iron them flat in order to<br />
resell them as new masks.<br />
This painting is a depiction of the situation mentioned above,<br />
with the iron being used to flatten out the mask. The background<br />
was chosen to contrast with the mask and to compliment the iron,<br />
showing a similar mindset environment that has taken advantage<br />
of the COVID-19 virus for financial gain.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Tyler Y<br />
Media: 3D Digital Render<br />
Title: Ice Harvest<br />
Size H x W (x D): 10k<br />
Space exploration is now getting more publicity since the<br />
excitement due to Nasa has died down. Questions about alien<br />
life resurface.<br />
This is my take on the possibilities of alien life, and the form it<br />
may take. I kept asking myself the same questions:<br />
Where are they, what are they, and what do they look like?<br />
Taking inspiration from many form of media, I based this<br />
fictional life-form on arachnids, with its body simple enough in<br />
structure to leave some details to the imagination.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Tyler Y<br />
Media: 3D Digital Render<br />
Title: Tabletop Ecosystem<br />
Size H x W (x D): 10k<br />
When you don’t get enough sleep and the teacher is talking<br />
about Shakespeare, your mind tends to wander.<br />
The pencil sharpener on the table looks more and more like some<br />
strange creature from a fairy-tale, the tissue box seems to be<br />
staring at you, and the extension cable dock appears to be able<br />
to crawl towards you, generating a faint glow. Someone drops a<br />
box of thumbtacks, and it bursts into a colourful array of<br />
glowing fireflies.<br />
You wake up.<br />
Scientists believe that the trait we have that compels us to give<br />
non-conscious objects pet-like names and treat them as such is<br />
unique to humans. What do you dream about?
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Tyler Y<br />
Media: 3D Digital Animation<br />
Title: Frankentime<br />
Size H x W (x D): 4k<br />
Time is immaterial and by all fathomable means, untouchable.<br />
Time cannot be regained, rewound or stopped, no matter what<br />
plans humanity draws up. As persistent as the march of time is,<br />
and as desperately we illusion ourselves in modern society that<br />
time passes as slowly as possible, we are still stubbornly<br />
adamant about keeping track of its progress. Adamant enough<br />
that some would sacrifice important aspects of their life to<br />
“save time” and to “live life to the fullest”. This sacrifice is<br />
embodied in this animation as the piece of flesh embedded in<br />
the clockwork to keep it running. The minute hand shows an<br />
infinite loop that never ends, while the hour hand stays partially<br />
stuck at the same time, stubbornly refusing the let go, repeating<br />
history time and time again.<br />
This animation is a testament to humanity’s tendency to overlook<br />
the big picture and focus instead on the present.
CURATORIAL RATIONALE<br />
Tyler Y<br />
Media: 3D Digital Animation<br />
Title: FishPrint<br />
Size H x W (x D): 2k<br />
Mass production has always been the goal in agriculture and<br />
other food-based industries. Efficiency is looked on to be the<br />
most important factor of all when deciding which methods and<br />
which livestock to breed. However, with certain discoveries and<br />
innovations in the area of synthetic food, literal mass production<br />
may become a reality. Humanity yet again tries to emulate<br />
nature using technology, trying to make something better, fast.<br />
This animation shows a 3D printer, which is a relatively new<br />
tool/medium, creating a tuna, repeatedly. The machine follows<br />
instructions, creating fish after fish. Can synthetic food ever be<br />
the same as real, organic food? What impact will this have on<br />
the environment?