In bustling Hong Kong, people indeed need some quiet space to find inner peace. Linda Lin, who is both an actress and a ceramic artist, collaborated for the first time with her friend, photographer Ah Yeung, and the art creation duo Cowrice, Philip and Grace, to hold a cross-media art exhibition called “Desolate White” at “Parallel Space” on Tai Nan Street in Sham Shui Po from August 11th to 27th. This exhibition connects the three locations of Northern India, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom, using each artist’s expertise to depict moments of stillness and allow everyone to escape the city and connect with their true inner selves.
Desolate land, but not at all bleak.
Sham Shui Po is known as a place for street interviews with the grassroots, but in recent years it has become a new artistic and cultural district. Among them, Tai Nam Street is even hailed as The New Brooklyn, with its nostalgic streets and alleys, away from the hustle and bustle, yet infused with the energy and ideas of young people. The location of the cross-media art exhibition “荒白” (Desolation and Whiteness) is Parallel Space on Tai Nam Street.
The source of everything comes from Ayang’s trip to northern India: “At the beginning of the year, I traveled to the mountains of northern India to visit the Zanskar River and participate in the Chadar Trek, a glacier trek. I found myself in a desolate Himalayan mountain range and glacier, where time didn’t matter and everything was blank. It made me feel comfortable and natural, and my heart became more tolerant.”
Ayang took a series of black and white photos in northern India, and Lin Jiaxin expressed her love for them after seeing them. Karena also created 100 pottery pieces in response to Ayang’s black and white photos. She also invited her good friend Cowrice to create a part of the printmaking for the exhibition “荒白” (Desolate White).
“The so-called desolation is not negative to me, but rather a very peaceful state of mind. There, I don’t have to worry about time, it’s all blank, which makes me feel very comfortable and natural. The perspective of looking at things in front of me has changed, and my heart has become more tolerant.” Ayang captured a series of black and white photos in northern India, where you will see vast white nature, frozen peaks and lakes, Ladakh’s Tibetan Buddhist temples and prayer flags, and every encounter on the road, Ayang captured them all.
Portraying my own landscape
“The exhibition ‘Desolate White’ brings together photography, ceramics, and printmaking, three completely different mediums, in a real artistic dialogue. The works present how they depict time and their own states, forming a highly interesting contrast and collision.”
Speaking of another part of the exhibition – ceramics, Lin Jiaxin, who is deeply passionate about pottery, personally made a hundred pieces of utensils with black clay. In the underground gallery, she arranged them in a dense landscape resembling a pile of rocks, measuring 3 meters by 1 meter. “Our exhibition is called ‘White Echos荒白’, and these hundred utensils are named ‘A Hundred Echos’. I used a hundred utensils to respond to Ayang’s black and white theme. Actually, when arranging them like this, I had a certain image in my mind. Interestingly, when friends came to visit these past few days, they described this display as resembling a landscape of mountains and rivers. I am open to anyone who comes to see ‘荒白’ to construct their own landscape.”
Karena also expressed that she had previously tried using gray-white clay due to its black and white photo style, but ultimately decided on using all-black clay from Xinle, which is closer to the texture of stone. She said, “Black has a certain weight to it. When I’m throwing the clay and applying the black glaze, as I’m trimming the piece, I gaze at the ever-changing black clay in front of me, as if entering a black hole. It has its own significance. I find it very interesting because everyone involved in creation is focused on their own story and the current state of the moment.”
Across time and space
As for Cowrice, Philip and Grace, who are in the UK, they have created three large-scale prints for this exhibition. One is selected from Ayang’s photography works, another depicts the landscape of hiking in Hong Kong, and the third depicts the river they often pass by in the UK.
Grace said, “We really like one of Ah Yeung’s works, and we immediately wanted to turn it into a print. So at that time, we didn’t have a detailed plan for what this creation was about. We just wanted to transform the artwork into the image that connected with my mind. During the process, we had a sense of déjà vu. Did we see it in a dream? Or during meditation? Or maybe I myself wanted to explore this state of space? This made me really want to explore the relationship between space, time, and geography in it.”
Philip and Grace, who have been living in the UK for two years, enjoy walking along the riverside, reminiscing about the city’s old gate ponds and riverbanks, which evoke a sense of home. During meditation, they occasionally envision the distant glaciers of northern India, even though they have never set foot there. These visions subtly transform into impressions of the future. Phillip also expresses, “In the later stages of creation, I feel a strong desire to focus solely on my creative space, and at that moment, it feels like timelessness. It’s like what Ah Yeung described, having a conversation with my inner self. We didn’t intentionally pursue it, but rather, it’s a feeling that suddenly arises during the creative process.”
Heart for Hong Kong
The exhibition is specially located in Tai Nam Street, Sham Shui Po. In this small corner of the bustling city, the four creators all believe that this place is suitable for holding this exhibition. Karena hopes that everyone can come and experience the atmosphere they have set up for the audience, and describe that Hong Kong actually has many lovely aspects: “For example, the human touch. Yesterday, when we went to a local tea restaurant, they asked us, ‘What are you doing here? Why did you come here?’ They knew we were here to hold an exhibition, and then they gave us some toast. When people passing by see our exhibition, they say they will come and take a look another day. You will feel warm and have a sense of community. Hong Kong is actually made lovely by its people! This is also something that cannot be replaced in Hong Kong.”
Ayang also said slowly, “The photos I took have nothing to do with Hong Kong at first glance. Cowrice is in the UK, Jiaxin is in Hong Kong. On the surface, they are three different places, but because all four of us creators are from Hong Kong, we approach the messages we convey in a Hong Kong way. Hong Kong people may be very busy, with many things filling up their space. On the contrary, the atmosphere I want to share through this journey and exhibition is that people need a space where they have nothing and can be very calm, so that they can truly find themselves and have a conversation with themselves. This is the message we hope to share with the people of Hong Kong.”
It is probably because of the very friendly relationship among everyone and also because of a shared worldview that there were not many meetings during the production process of the exhibition. The result, however, is that everyone’s work has consistency. They all feel that only through desolation can they impartially see the truth behind the hazy and ever-changing days. Phillip said that during the creative process, he discovered a common point among everyone, which is that everyone is very focused on one thing and deeply introspects and has inner dialogue during the process. These are all unexpected!
“In such a dense space, especially in Sham Shui Po, it’s quite interesting to suddenly have a space that allows you to pause and find yourself. Hong Kong is a place where one can truly practice self-reflection, as there is so much pressure from limited space and time that it’s easy to lose oneself. One of the messages in ‘荒白’ is to have a conversation with oneself, so Hong Kong is a suitable place for that.”
During the exhibition, there will be lectures and workshops where artists will share their creative ideas. Participants can also have hands-on experience with the process of developing and printing photographs and prints. We sincerely invite people from all walks of life to join us and learn more.
Workshop Inquiry Ayang (Lamb) Please IG Inbox @lambiseverywhere
Exhibition Date: August 11th – 27th, 2023
Location: Shop 202, Tai Nam Street, Sham Shui Po
Time: 12:00 – 19:00 (Closed on Tuesdays)
Text: Mimi Kong
Videography & Photography: Alvin Kong
