re-emergence
2013
Re-emergence is a body of work that encapsulates the power to navigate through adversity. The re-emerged rusty anchor — a symbol of unforgotten pain — is uplifted once again from the deep ocean. The series reflects on the artist’s ambivalence towards Hong Kong and the state of mind of her home city — which is long due for political stability.
Mirroring this personal agony may be the muddled uncertainty felt by the wider Hong Kong population: from being swaddled by the British until the handover, Hong Kong has taken on the burden of history inadvertently. Just like the third-culture kid, Hong Kong’s sense of identity has been set adrift, being accessible by all while having no ownership of any. Each year the city is flooded with over 20 million tourists, leaving behind overwhelmed faces in the MTR and streets of commercial districts. The same confounded faces have seen outbursts of protests in vain and remained puzzled as to whether a uniform voice can ultimately be formed.
In the past, the peacefulness of the ocean surface has casted a soothing blanket over the corroding anchor underneath, subjects such as “sense of identity” and “core values” have never been debated so blatantly by the public. Nonetheless, the anchor is unmoored allowing the pain to surface, the choice is now: agonise endlessly or simply move on?
The body of work can be perceived as a narrative series, although they bear no chronological order. Snow is a closing remark to the psychological journey; the artist is once again burying the pain under deep snow, expressing her determination to move on. Re- emergence aims at capturing the psychology of the generation of people in Hong Kong who bear a similar “Third Culture” background, in light of the place’s sociology, hammering home the message to the audience in pondering on one’s self-identity and beckoning to self-realization.
Mirroring this personal agony may be the muddled uncertainty felt by the wider Hong Kong population: from being swaddled by the British until the handover, Hong Kong has taken on the burden of history inadvertently. Just like the third-culture kid, Hong Kong’s sense of identity has been set adrift, being accessible by all while having no ownership of any. Each year the city is flooded with over 20 million tourists, leaving behind overwhelmed faces in the MTR and streets of commercial districts. The same confounded faces have seen outbursts of protests in vain and remained puzzled as to whether a uniform voice can ultimately be formed.
In the past, the peacefulness of the ocean surface has casted a soothing blanket over the corroding anchor underneath, subjects such as “sense of identity” and “core values” have never been debated so blatantly by the public. Nonetheless, the anchor is unmoored allowing the pain to surface, the choice is now: agonise endlessly or simply move on?
The body of work can be perceived as a narrative series, although they bear no chronological order. Snow is a closing remark to the psychological journey; the artist is once again burying the pain under deep snow, expressing her determination to move on. Re- emergence aims at capturing the psychology of the generation of people in Hong Kong who bear a similar “Third Culture” background, in light of the place’s sociology, hammering home the message to the audience in pondering on one’s self-identity and beckoning to self-realization.
