都市生活千篇一律，我们各自竞走在生活的赛道上，身边一切早已习以为常。然而在这稠密的城市中，新旧交融的建筑地景、语言文化或许早已悄悄地酝酿出一股奇幻力量。在本地艺术家何博欣 Vivian Ho 眼中，中环摩天大楼、深水埗唐楼、彩虹屋村、鳌鱼涌怪兽大厦等都是香港独特的风景线。建筑与自然紧密共生的城市，构成了她灵感中既梦幻又绚丽的香港。海洋生物浮游在闹市、长颈鹿、树熊、野猪等野生动物行走于闹市中，就连世界颠倒了，人们依然自在地过日晨。
Vivian将一系列丰富的视觉元素带入香港寻常街道，她以惊人想象力与细腻笔法打造出一个虚构的超现实城市。面对离奇日常时，艺术家用作品告诉你：与其怨懟世界荒诞，倒不如活得比这些更奇幻。
Vivian 在美国读大学时主修经济与油画，毕业回流香港，全职投入艺术创作，一晃眼便十年时光。从油画创作转至近年以插画为重心，她的作品积累本土流行文化的滋养，同时注入满是诡奇的想像。近期，她在 SHOUT艺术中心与画廊 带来第二个插画展览“I miss us”，继续以超现实风格画出香港，记录城市景观的同时，也在追忆一段变质的关系。
本集艺城游记到访Vivian的工作室，亦跟她走入喧哗闹市，与她聊聊怎样以绚丽画风，创造出她笔下那些魔幻写实的城市景象。
“Oil painting and illustration are two different processes, and I cannot only focus on one of them.”
When it comes to Vivian’s work, people may first think of her colorful illustrations, but in fact, she majored in traditional oil painting in college. Since she was young and loved reading comics, she jokingly said that she never thought of the word “art” before, she just purely wanted to paint. There are no hidden profound truths in her images, nor does it bring up any philosophical issues. Vivian simply combines interesting things she encounters in life with local popular culture, and depicts her own reflections on life.
油画与插画，两种媒介在创作手法、技巧上都截然不同，Vivian会有所偏好吗？她分享道：“油画就像是一个耕种的过程，你需要花很多时间调整画布、木框，然后慢慢调色，又要打底与等待风干，是一件很漫长很漫长的事情。而doodle对我来说就是想画什么就画什么，相对得心应手一点。”
谨慎的油画与率性的涂鸦，两者从来没有高下之分，Vivian风趣地形容：“就好似你饮红酒和益力多，两样都开心，那个滋味是不同的。”厚重的油彩每笔都展现出独特的肌理，而插画则挥洒着自由的创意灵感，两者并不抵触，而直认“怕闷”的Vivian亦享受游走于这两种媒介之间。
「我对空白感到害怕。」
In addition to occasionally changing media to inspire creative ideas, Vivian also creates a visual impact through rich composition. Every time you look at Vivian’s work, there is a sense of full surprise because she always juxtaposes multiple materials in the same scene, creating a rich and lush unique image. When you carefully examine every corner, you will discover new surprises like finding hidden Easter eggs.
她说：“这是一种对空白的恐惧，我创作时都比较避免有留白，我希望别人看我的作品时不会只看一眼，而是让整个画面带领着他们走一次。”眼前这位古灵精怪的艺术家除了在主题构想上天马行空外，画面处理方面亦相当出其不意，使得观众自然而然地流淌于其趣怪想像之中。
However, to combine all the elements together without losing the beauty, a meticulous plan from the artist is needed beforehand. Vivian shares with us that the birth of each artwork requires a collage process, with the concept of the artwork being the first priority. Many people think that her illustrations are all digital drawings, but in fact, she meticulously draws them with an ink pen, and then colors them using photo editing software. She usually starts by deciding the main scene of the artwork, and then gradually adds characters, decorations, and landscape arrangements to create unique and one-of-a-kind images.
就像在新作《我要将你拯救 逃离人类荒谬》中一样，Vivian选择了位于深水埗的旧式唐楼作为场景，并将其变身为一个巨大的水族馆。在鲸鲨、魔鬼鱼等游弋在天空和大楼之间的场景中，一对情侣手牵手仰望着天空，给人一种错位的空间感，却又非常浪漫。
这个地方有很多好东西只有香港人才懂。
Vivian的作品记录了城市的繁华与孤寂，除了场景够地道外，她亦爱以广东话歌词为作品命名，之前亦曾推出过一个「广东话谚语」系列的创作，因而被套上一个本土化的印象。她自己又怎样看待这种「好 local」的标签呢？
她想了想说道：”标签这件事很有趣，就算你『反标签』本身都是一种标签，如果你说我是一种 Indie ，本身都是一种反主流的标签。”对她而言，作品从来不该被单一框架限制，她并没有太在意别人对其作品的评价与解释，反而希望观众能从其作品中找到一种共鸣感。生于斯长于斯，Vivian 直言这一切可能都是源于一种「广东话情意结」，她觉得其中有很多有趣的东西只有自己人会明。又或许是，那是一种对城市自然而生的归属感与喜爱。因此无论她的作品飘洋过海至外国展览，画的东西依然离不开香港。
「画的时候已经放开怀抱，就是有多奇幻就画多奇幻，因为已经是日常。」
踏入全职创作第十个年头，Vivian 至今曾与多个品牌、媒体及艺术集团合作，作品亦被 M+ 博物馆等收藏。去年，Vivian 首次在画廊举办插画作品展 “Wish you were here”，在此之前，她一直觉得 Illustration 比起油画，似乎还未够份量踏入展览厅。虽然以往曾拥有多次个展经验，但全数展示插画作品的却不曾有过。抱着尝新的实验精神，她当时以「给香港的情书」为题创作了一系列作品，收获热烈支持。
一年后的今天，她带来第二个插画个展 “我想念我们”，画风依旧奇幻，只是城市悄无声色地起了变化。Vivian 分享：”上个展览 ‘Wish You Were Here’ 这句感觉上是跟一个 Long D（Long Distance） 的伴侣说话，感觉似你不在这里，不过我挂念你，我希望你见到我见到的东西，有一种双方都在同一页的感觉。到了今次 ‘I miss us’ 就有点像彼此分手了，但其中一个单方面不舍这段恋情，或者单方面不肯承认已经分手的感觉。”
This time, a total of 22 new works are exhibited. Vivian takes the audience back to those familiar streets, lingering in the scattered memories. The city has been constantly changing over the years, and this instability and variation make us feel regretful, like a deteriorating emotion, making people live in the past beauty all day long. The city is a home, like a lover, with an inseparable emotional connection. Vivian said that the previous exhibition was intended to present a sense of loneliness, but this time she hopes to show a sense of sweetness in memories. Only what is sealed in the paintings can withstand the test of time. She said, “When I paint, I have already let go. I paint as many fantasies as I want, because it has become a daily routine.” Even if the emotions are no longer in sync, it does not hinder her reminiscence of a “certain relationship” or a “certain city”.
「我在画面上的处理其实就是我对未来的想法」
However, while reminiscing about the past, we are more curious about what the artist hopes for the future. After thinking for a moment, she said, “I think ‘I want you’ and ‘I miss you’ are two different things. ‘I miss you’ and ‘I miss us’ are also two different things. I think this is purely an emotional expression. The way I handle the images is actually my thoughts about the future, for example, there are many elements of the starry sky, and the colors are happy. Even though there are many strange things happening in the picture, there are still one or two people who are easygoing and face them, and they are busy doing their own things in the scene.”
一切变了样又如何，只要抱着平常心去看待，一切也并没有什么大不了。她自若地说：“就算世界有些奇怪，就算这个宇宙有古怪，但现在却有种『还是继续行下去吧』的感觉。”
在《ET Phone Home》中，外星人女生拿着一叠硬币走入路边电话亭，她希望打电话回家，接通那个遥远的星球。Vivian 创作此画时就在询问，究竟我们在这里是异类，还是这里是属于我们的家。
另一幅《家是心之所在》巨型水母漂浮在高架天桥上，一个女生手持指挥棒引领它们回家。Vivian 分享小时候一直以为水母不会游泳，只会随波逐流。对于看画的你来说，你又会是那个指引方向的女生，还是那只不知前路的水母？
画作的诠释有千百种，有人从这些作品中看出了一个奇幻的异像世界，有人沉浸于画面中塑造的甜蜜感，亦有些人引伸至大时代下的政治气候。任何事都没有一个定论，就连创作者也不希望道明其中意义。Vivian说：“我想我是喜欢空间与想像，我不喜欢说死一件事。对我来说创作并非因为有好伟大的言论要发表，只是当刻有些感受想纪录下来。至于你能否感受到我的feeling，其实不是很重要。”
Missing someone is a feeling, as well as a sentiment. The beauty that was once considered ordinary, at that time was thought to be nothing special. Now that everyday life is already magical enough, there is no need to cling to the nostalgia of the past. Instead, it is better to use all our imagination, like Vivian, to create an inexhaustible ocean.
“我怀念我们”展览
日期：即日起至2023年1月12日
时间：上午11时至下午8时（12月24&31日上午10时至下午2时）
地点：九龙尖沙咀海港城OT308A号铺SHOUT艺术中心与画廊
执行制片人：莫恩格斯
制片人：孔美美
编辑：姚露比
摄影师：谭凯森，孔奥文，李安迪
摄影师：朱奇
视频编辑：李安迪
设计师：蔡迈克尔
特别鸣谢： Vivian Ho
