KMO_8227

Rediscovering The Daily Objects

Angel Hui Hoi Kiu

對藝術家許開嬌(Angel)的認識是由一卷白色的廁紙開始。數年前,在一個展覽裡看到的《青花紙巾》系列,漂白色的廁紙上畫了中國傳說中的龍,長長的龍身完美地呈現在看似無盡的卷裝廁紙上,仿青花瓷的水墨圖案與細緻精巧的鱗片和龍爪都讓人不禁趨前細看。今次來到Angel的工作室,意外地發現古董木櫃裡堆滿了一卷卷廁紙。「是用來做作品的嗎?」我不禁問。「若是3層的廁紙會自己用,2層的就不會了。不過,如果是做新作品的話,我大多會買些新的。」Angel笑說,因為上年疫情的關係,大家都在爭廁紙,她也買多了一點儲起來,朋友都說她是擁有最多廁紙的人。「剛開始這個系列時,家裡堆滿了廁紙,家人都不敢亂動,不知哪些可以用,哪些不可以用的。」外表帶點冷酷的Angel與爽朗可親的個性帶點反差,就像她的作品,透過精緻的工藝把日常用品變成藝術品,這種反差讓人重新思考日常物品與藝術的界線,是尋常的生活裡不尋常的發現。

I came to know about Angel Hui Hoi Kiu because of a toilet paper roll. The encounter took place a few years ago at an exhibition where she showcased her Qinghua (literally “blue flowers” ) work on toilet paper. The collection includes a piece in which a dragon, a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, is painted on the bleached white toilet paper. The long-bodied dragon hovers over the equally long toilet roll. The blue motif imitates patterns of Chinese blue-on-white porcelain and the exquisite details of the dragon’s scales and claws are simply mesmerizing. I paid a visit to Angel’s studio and was surprised to find that there was an antique wooden cabinet filled with rolls of toilet paper. “Do you use these for your work?” I couldn’t help asking. Angel laughed and said, “The 3-ply papers are for personal use. Not the 2-ply ones though. But for future work, I’d probably get some new rolls.” Angel has rolls of toilet paper piling up in her studio because of the toilet paper-buying frenzy that occurred early last year when the pandemic hit. She is known among friends for being super-rich in terms of toilet paper. “When I first started this series, my house was full of toilet paper, and my family didn’t dare to touch them since they had no idea whether those papers could be used.” Angel looks a bit unapproachable; but in fact, she has a very amiable personality. This kind of contradiction can be found in her work too — transforming everyday objects into exquisite pieces of art; finding peculiar in the ordinary. Contradictions inspire us to reconsider and blur the line between everyday objects and art.

被譽為新晉的水墨藝術家,Angel卻認為自己專注的不是水墨,而是實驗藝術,水墨只是她用來表達作品的其中一種媒介。「做作品時,我會以概念為先,好像是最新的〈膠袋刺繡——香港金魚街〉系列。」初次看見這系列是在今年的Affordable Art Fair,純白色的牆上,整齊地掛上一個個透明的亞加力膠箱,入面展示了一條條「袋裝金魚」。人們在金魚前上下觀看、細緻打量,猶如置身於人來人往的金魚街。「我習慣在工作室附近的超級市場買樽裝水,忘記了帶環保袋時,會用他們提供的膠袋。當我走上往工作室必經的斜路時,這些膠袋通常會突然破掉,水樽東歪西倒,讓我很狼狽。這些破爛了的膠袋失去了載物功能,變得沒有用處。於是我決定要做一個關於爛膠袋的系列,除了加上藝術的價值,還有香港的文化特色,所以用了一掛起來便讓人聯想到是金魚街的賣金魚膠袋。」

「膠袋本來就很廉價,掉了它是平常事,怎樣做能使人想保留它?」Angel改變了膠袋的功能性,並為它加添價值,請來蘇州的繡娘在本來裝金魚的膠袋上,一針一線地繡上不同顏色、樣貌和型態的金魚。膠袋被刺穿了,無法盛水,卻是體現精細手工的藝術品。「對我來說,蘇州繡娘的參與是非常重要的,這是傳統與當代的一席對話。一開始找繡娘時,她們是拒絕的,因為在她們的心目中,刺繡是出現於上好的布料或工藝品之上,繡在膠袋上面是不可能的事情。經過數次閉門羹後,我終於能游說幾位繡娘去嘗試新的東西。」Angel說一開始時,繡花很厚,並不好看,後來經過多次調整,她需要精準地告訴繡娘金魚的位置、面向、顏色和漸變效果等,給她們看金魚相片作參考,才能使成品的像真度如此高,甚至有人在instagram私訊她金魚是不是真的。「新系列將會是在膠袋上繡上一對金魚和海草,並會掛在的鐵籠上,更像金魚街商店的展示方式。」

KMO_8421

Though known as an emerging ink artist, Angel finds herself focusing more on experimental art rather than ink work. Ink is merely one of the mediums in which she expresses herself. “Concept always comes first when I create. My latest series, Embroidery on the plastic bag – Hong Kong Goldfish Street, is an example.” I first saw the series at this year’s Affordable Art Fair. Bags of goldfish were displayed inside the transparent acrylic boxes that were hung neatly on a pure white wall. Visitors lingering in front of this wall of goldfish, carefully observing and inspecting, mimic the scene that takes place everyday at the Goldfish Street in Hong Kong. “I have a habit of buying bottled water from a supermarket nearby the studio. Sometimes when I forget to bring my own bag, I’d use the plastic bags they provided. However, as I walk up the ramp that leads to my studio, the plastic bag would inevitably break apart and the water bottles would fall everywhere. It’s very frustrating. These broken bags became useless as they lost their function of carrying items. So I decided to create a series about torn plastic bags that come with both artistic value and unique characteristics of Hong Kong culture. I chose to work with the plastic bags that people can easily associate with those from Goldfish Street.”

“Plastic bags are cheap. It’s not a big deal at all to throw them in the trash. So what can we do to make people want to keep them?” Angel decided to change the function of the plastic bags, and in addition, she added value to them by soliciting help from the embroiderers from Suzhou to embroider goldfish of different colors, appearances, and forms on the bags. The embroidered bags can no longer serve their normal functions like holding water, but they have since become pieces of fine and exquisite craftsmanship. “It means a lot that the embroiderers from Suzhou participated in this project. It is a dialogue between traditional and contemporary art. When I first approached the embroiderers, they said no because in their minds, embroidery can only be done on fine fabric. Embroidering on plastic bags was beyond their imagination. After multiple attempts, they finally agreed to try something new.” Angel said that the initial work didn’t look good at all. She had to show the embroiderers photos of goldfish for reference and communicate with them in detail so that they knew where the goldfish should be, how they should look, the colors, and color transitions etc. The final output looks very much like the real thing that some people even messaged her on Instagram to ask her if the goldfish are real. “For the new series, we will have a pair of goldfish and some seaweed embroidered on each plastic bag, and the bags will be hung on mesh wire, just like what you’d see in Goldfish Street.”

Angel的工作室並不大,卻充滿著生活感,不同時期的作品凌亂地散落在各處,新的、舊的,像一場自我對話。用萬字夾砌成的清朝文官朝服、拿著防疫用品的千手觀音畫像,還有戴上口罩的〈戴珍珠耳環的少女〉。「今年初,我在大館辦了《瘋狂新世界》的個人展覽,延續仿藍白色的青花水墨,呈現當下世界的狀態。我模仿了燒瓷上的圖案,畫了戴著口罩的名畫主角,圍著他們的是一些日常的東西,如消毒用品和社交媒體。我把這系列叫作《My Little Hong Kong》。我會說這種藍是維多利亞港的藍,是反映著藍天的海港。」

Angel’s studio is not big, but it is full of life. The work she has produced over the years are scattered all over the place; as if there is a dialogue going on between the new and old pieces. There is a Qing dynasty official court robe made of paper clips, a painting of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin (Buddhist bodhisattva) who has various COVID-related hygiene products in her hands, and the Girl with a Pearl Earring who is also wearing a surgical mask. “At the beginning of this year, I held a solo exhibition in Tai Kwun called, Bewildered World. I wish to show what the current world is like through my blue-and-white ink designs. Inspired by the look of porcelain paintings, I reproduced some famous art pieces, but, what’s different is that the protagonists are all wearing masks and surrounded by things we see everyday, such as cleaning and disinfection supplies and social media. I named this series, My Little Hong Kong. I would say that this blue is the blue of Victoria Harbour. A harbour that reflects the blue sky of Hong Kong.”

反思日常、破壞及重新定義日常物品的功能是Angel的創作原點,由厠紙、萬字夾、膠袋,到正製作中的刀片旗袍也是。「這些層層疊疊的剃鬚刀片是由我親手縫上去的,製作時一不小心便會弄傷手,要戴手套才可以走近這作品。剃鬚刀片與皮膚很親近,但一不小心便會受傷,因此不可能穿上。旗袍象徵女性的溫柔、柔軟的感覺;與象徵男性的剛強、具攻擊性的剃鬚刀片形成強烈對比。不過,還是留待觀眾解讀吧,有時候說太多也未必好呢。」這些刀片遠看像珠片,在射燈下還會閃閃發光,只需想像便能感受到它的力量。Angel說,希望日後可以創作多點關於daily object的作品,「我希望十年後可以做到一間房間裡的日常用品都換成我的藝術作品。」Angel笑說:「我不擔心的,我給自己十年時間去做。」

With so much of her art constructed from toilet paper, paper clips, plastic bags, and razor blades, we might be able to conclude that there are two recurring themes in Angel’s work: reflection on daily life, as well as the deconstructing and redefining of the function of daily objects. “I sewed these razor blades on the qipao (Chinese-style dress) by hand. Because it’s so easy to get cut, I need to wear gloves to protect myself. In fact, razor blades can get extremely close to our skin, yet we can’t wear them because we might get hurt. Qipao represents the gentleness and softness of women, which makes a great contrast to razor blades that are often associated with toughness and aggressiveness. But still, I’ll leave it to the audience for interpretation. Sometimes it’s better to speak less.” These blades look like sequins from a distance. They even sparkle under the spotlights. You can feel their power with imagination. Angel wishes to create more using common daily objects. “I hope that in ten years, I can replace all daily necessities in my room with my own artworks. I am not worried at all. I have ten years to work on it.

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