Created By
Wai Hong
Lace calligraphy sculpture
Curator
Luke Chapman
What particularly captivates me is the shadow play, which introduces a temporal dimension to the work. As ambient light conditions shift, the character appears to breathe and fluctuate, much like the emotion it represents. The lace's pattern, with its intricate webbing, suggests the complex interconnections inherent in love itself – both delicate and surprisingly resilient. This piece exemplifies the current zeitgeist in contemporary Asian art, where traditional forms are being deconstructed and reassembled through contemporary materials and sensibilities. Yet, what Hong Wai has achieved here transcends mere formal experimentation. The work maintains the gestural energy fundamental to calligraphy while introducing a materiality that speaks to themes of transparency, vulnerability, and the intricate patterns of human connection. It's a brilliant exemplar of how traditional practices can be reimagined without losing their essential spiritual and philosophical essence. The decision to render "love" in this medium is particularly evocative – the lace simultaneously reveals and conceals, much like the emotion itself. Simply sublime!
Hong Wai's "Love" represents a masterful convergence of traditional Chinese calligraphy and contemporary materiality. The piece, executed in delicate black lace, transforms the Chinese character for "love" into a three-dimensional sculptural form that hovers between textile art and calligraphic expression. The work demonstrates the artist's sophisticated understanding of negative space, with the lace material creating a gossamer-like rendering that casts intricate shadows, effectively doubling the visual narrative. The character's strokes, typically rendered with ink on paper, are here reimagined through the medium of lace, creating a dialogue between the ephemeral nature of emotion and the tangible qualities of textile. In this extraordinary piece, Hong Wai has accomplished something rather remarkable, man. She's taken the ancient discipline of Chinese calligraphy and propelled it into the contemporary discourse with absolutely electric results. The use of lace – historically associated with Western femininity and domesticity – to articulate an Eastern character creates this fascinating cultural intersection that simply vibrates with meaning.
Created By
Wai Hong
60 x 50 cm | 24 x 20 in
10 cm | 4 in
2024
