Artify Gallery presents the works of local artists Eve, Leung Yee Ting and Wong Xiang-yi in a new exhibition. Leung and Wong practice in the classical Chinese meticulous painting tradition of Gong Bi. United in their medium of choice, tales of the contemporary condition are evoked using the fine technique of ink and brush, allowing for undercurrents of dreams and emotions to percolate. 

Eve Leung Yee Ting – Seeking comfort amidst dreamscapes

Leung uses gong bi to record the mundane objects and scenes that inform our daily lives, from the lightbulb and standing mirror to the very food that we consume, the artist is entranced by these humble objects. It is this very act of documenting that reveals the fantastical caprice of these inanimates; a filament maybe a dandelion flower whilst a reflection maybe a portal into another vision of floating, lightness and butterflies. It is through the minutiae that the tenuous connection between dreams and actuality may converge.

Leung renders her imagination and the hidden stories in her thoughts and dreams through the descriptive nature of gong bi, coupled with a contemporary creativity with each moment carefully considered and portrayed. Local food habits synonymous with Hong Kong form a vast pool of inspiration for Leung: from dim sum to desserts, cha chang tengs to herbal tea shops, her works are physical manifestations of her inner wanderings. The exhibition also presents the series Quotations from Eileen Chang, visualizing on paper the artist’s interest in local literary heritage – seemingly a castle-in-the-sky dialogue with the tour de force writer.

Wong Xiang-yi – Wondering in an asexual love story

Though practising in gong bi, Wong’s oeuvre is clearly influenced by “Yaoi”, also known as “Boys’ Love”, a Japanese popular culture of female-oriented fictional manga, which focused on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships. The artist reveals this sub-culture of female preference to engage with visuals that depict the metrosexual male, ones that display a softness of character and a touch of femininity. Through the protagonists in her works, Wong sets out a very personal emotion towards love, sexuality and relationships.

In parallel, Wong has aspirations for gong bi to break from the shackles of tradition, embracing the medium’s breadth for a contemporary re-interpretation, achieving a new aesthetic with detail, elegant lines and colour.

Wang juxtapositions the visually soft with concepts that are hard – reevaluating the ideal male form in the 21st century, and blurring the lines between preconceived ideals of beauty according to gender. The world has to contend with the transformative gaze of Wong, in her newest work Indulge, a beautiful boy has his hair shorn amongst tender blossoms – a still and yet powerful image.

Image: © Eve Leung Yee Ting, Artify Gallery