Info

‘In the Moment’: New Works by Zhu Jingyi and Annie Lai-kuen Wan

Ceramic Hong Kong-based artist Annie Lai-Kuen Wan and Shanghai-based “ink” artist Zhu Jingyi both began their artistic journeys through the study of ancient Chinese art practices.  Today, both artists challenge the very nature and intention of their respective mediums by breaking with tradition.

Zhu Jingyi, born in China and based in Shanghai, dismisses the brush in order to reimagine his traditional medium as “Standing Ink.” He provocatively refers to his works as “ink,” even as gravity-defining resin is really at play. In so doing, the artist is deliberately challenging preconceived notions of ink painting (in the traditional sense) by questioning the very methods and materials that make up its DNA. Zhu takes as his subject matter all that is familiar in the genre—forests, mountains, trees, and rocks—and lends fortification with the application of three-dimensional structure using nothing more than rudimentary tools and handwork. The resulting effect is akin to space trusses or lattice shells reminiscent of Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic designs, but in free form. Spiritually connected to ink traditions, but materially allied with contemporary art making, Zhu has added yet another layer to contemplate in the great tradition of ink painting appreciation.

Annie Lai-kuen Wan, born in Hong Kong, developed an early interest in traditional ceramics. Today, Wan’s signature works include an ancient poem captured in the dead of night by “borrowing” characters from common Hong Kong commercial signs, with the assistance of plaster casts. She later transformed these traditional Chinese characters into beautiful wall objects that form an ancient poem.  The artist has also captured an entire library of vintage texts by preserving their forms in plaster cast.

In this exhibition, Wan moves beyond the recreation of ancient poems and texts and into the preservation of contemporary magazines and popular novels. In the new digital age, Wan evokes the notion that traditional media may soon be objects of the past. In her view, these are artefacts worthy of salvation.

Says Wan, “My investigation is deeply engaged with re-thinking the materiality of ceramics and its process of making; I am interested in extending the language of contemporary ceramics art, especially the conceptual approach.” Zhu and Wan work in tandem conversing with and reinventing their respective media. By broadening the language and possibilities of their artistic practices, both secure the relevance, identity and value of it. In the moment of creation, both artists seek a tangible outcome equal in measure and delivery to its conceptualization. It is at this meeting place of equivalence that the work of these two artists is fully realized.