2017 - ongoing

Photographs, various sizes, Chinese scrolls

 

I moved to Hong Kong in 2016 from Sydney, Australia, from an essentially horizontal built environment to a vertical city. In the former, one’s gaze tends to move from side to side, in the latter, there is a lot more up and down.  At the same time I encountered Chinese ink painting, a tradition I was aware of but knew nothing about. As I looked at both, this work evolved. Then COVID-19 hit and many of us were confined to home for long periods. 

 

All the works in these series include either the International Commerce Centre, the ICC, or the International Finance Centre, the IFC and are photographed from the same two places. They are the tallest and second tallest buildings respectively in Hong Kong.

 

The buildings became layered and extended metaphors as I explored positioning commerce and finance in the sky. The two buildings sit like colossi symbolising Hong Kong’s commercial and financial foundations, facing each other on either side of Victoria Harbour.

 

At the same time, the influence of ink painting and Renaissance church ceilings intermeshed. There is no obvious relationship between the two, yet as with many aesthetic endeavours, some unexpected inter-relationships can suddenly become apparent.

 

These two series, and a series of skies without buildings, became my work solace for the three years we were constrained by COVID-19. I also appreciated the focus that came from uninterrupted studio time.