🪬 Map 🔭

Map is a visual record of history. By studying old and new maps, a biography of people’s ideas and struggle for survival is revealed. Reading maps is actually reading people’s faces.

地圖是歷史與文化的一個圖像式記錄。比較新舊地圖，可以瞥見那地方的人和事、發展與生存的印記。讀地讀，猶如閱讀人面。

In 2021, I started a project of transforming old Hong Kong maps into abstract artworks. From streets to strokes, buildings to geometric shapes, it feels like mapping on my own skin to work on this series.

自2021年，我開始將香港舊地圖重組、再畫成抽象作品，將街道分解成線條，大廈群化作幾何圖案。這作業有如在自家皮膚上繪圖。

20211231，map of a myth IV.

I employed a set of aerial photos in 1947 of the Kowloon Peninsula as the reference for “Map of A Myth IV”. The photos were taken during the first large-scale aerial survey by the colonial government after WWII, as part of the plan to rebuild the city in the post-war period.

一組攝於1947年的九龍半島航拍照片，是《神話地圖．四》的參考資料。當時二戰剛結束，殖民政府計劃重建城市，進行了大規模的航測工作。

There are two components in this painting – a face’s side view and street patterns. I arranged the colours and tones in such a way that the street patterns played a dominant role. I intended to lead the viewers to perceive the stripes as streets, but not as part of a human face’s bone structure. Once the viewers follow this line of thinking, the human face is barely recognisable. This is a metaphor for the notion of “alternative histories”. As long as one version of history prevails, it is not easy to see other possible interpretations.

畫面主要有兩個元素，一張側面，及九龍半島的街道。我在色彩及色調上下功夫，特意引導觀賞者將線條解讀為道路網絡，令佔據畫面三份之一的一張人臉，隱而不見。這是一個隱喻。雖然解讀歷史有許多個方案，然而一旦一套主流版本形成了，我們就很難看到其他可能性。

Published in a well-noted magazine, this painting also won me a talent prize.

《神話地圖．四》讓我奪得首個「天才奬」，並獲選於藝術雜誌中刊登。

20211020，Map of A Myth III

The concept of “Map of A Myth III” is to integrate street patterns with a human face. This is to reflect the reminiscence of the local history and anticipation of our future from a first-person narrative.

《神話地圖．三》的概念是，將街道圖案與一張人臉揉合，作為第一人稱，陳述這座城市的過去與未來。

This won me my first participation in a group exhibition in the Switzerland. The project intended to portray the identity of community which deeply resonated for me. This work was also included in another online exhibition and a theme-based collection of works on uncertain identity.

這作品讓我首次獲選參加海外展覽。是次在瑞士舉行的活動，主題圍繞社群身份，讓我深深共鳴。此畫亦刊登於一份美國雜誌，作品結集成輯，全都關於不確定的身份。