Why you nude?
release my body from constraints.
release my soul enhance my senses.
liberate me to freedom.
take me to another space.
and I feel so untainted and clean.
Why are you nude when making artworks?
I nude therefore I am (who I am)
When I immerse myself into the making of artworks, I feel that my existence in this time and space aligns with the work and the artwork reflects my existence there. My body and soul are fully submerged in the making of it. It’s like a ritual and encompasses all my senses and being with the work.
What’s the motivation behind the libery gate paintings?
Gate of release to freedom, Gate of liberty. The human figures are entrenched in the metal gate, very much wanting to free themselves from the iron and steel bars. Wide animals, although not as clever as mankind, can roam the streets freely. Someone of wisdom said before that freedom is most valued when it is at the risk of losing it.
Under this theme, I made a total 12 paintings representing twelve animals from the zodiac, meaning that people from all walks of life all have deep values of freedom and liberty.
And howabout the nude painting featuring humanistic titles like “wake, scrutinize, back to back … etc”?
Those are coming from my observations of people living in today’s world, what they envisage, how they view on certain issues , how they feel inside their mind and how they react to alleviate the feelings.
Going to your sculptures, can you tell us about the creation of Stress and Strain series?
My academic background consisted of engineering and so I’ve studies the physical nature of matters to some depth such as stress and strain. I picked up a piece of long rectangular form and twist, bend and roll it into difference forms that assimilate human body parts, just like twisting, bending and rolling one’s body.
The four sculptures consist of forms that borrow ideas from gaps and holes of human body, flexing muscles and straining tendons.
When my hand caress over Hexagonal Star, I can feel the curves of buttock, lips, elbow, between legs, toe and thumb nails.
In Question Mark, I can feel the bones of two fingers knuckle, two feet, asshole, backbone, eyes, and hands like a hook.
In the Number 9, I imagine a bigger hole, a trunk feet, fat and short, vertebrate, tongue twisting.
In Bamboo, the form looks like neck bone, vertebrate, brain stimulus, and knee
Your mix-media works are rather free form and consist of a wide variety of issues, can you explain them concisely?
Eggtart 2008 is about the feeling of sharing a piece of dessert with my brother.
Anger and tears 2014 is based on the Chinese idiom喜 怒 哀 樂 (Happiness, Anger, Sadness and Gladness), and propose that in modern comsumptuous economy 消費型經濟 , spending money and personal consumption can enhance the good feelings of Happiness and Gladness, and also can made good the negative feelings of Anger and Sadness. So it appears to be a Solve-all-problems approach to alleviate the emotions that greatly influence our behaviors. We want these sentiments to affect us in positive ways rather than allowing us to lose control and wander into deep pits. The crying heads represent tears from emotions of joy, rage, sorrow and delight.
There are two sets of heads that represent both youngsters and mature people are having the same feelings, although different extent of life experiences.
喜 Happiness = represented by Ronald MacDonald
怒Anger = represented by Angry Bird
哀Sadness = represented by Les Miserable
樂Gladness = represented by Yellow Rubber Duck
Consumerism = represented by LV logos
What’s your view on living as a whole?
To endure pain in the present is to embrace delight in the future.
I’ve been running fast, but when I look back my life, I was progressing very slowly ..
We’re all kids, but pretending to be adults.
We can admire each other's beauty and live a happy life, or we can condemn each
other's shortcomings and both be ugly..
Why do you like to live in Pui O which takes up a lot of travelling time to the city?
I live in an area where herds of wild buffalos also live and raise their family.. it is by far the most peaceful way that wild animals live with humans, and that's the best thing humans can hope for.. there has been a number of incidents whereby cars and trucks hit the herd of buffalos and kill them, and is completely preventable..
Who’s your idols? Role models?
Dancers are the most real artists, the art comes from the full body movement with nothing to hide, there's no way to cheat..
<<< painting by Chan Fei >>>
... ( some painters do draw
in nude and erection! )