Conversation: Kay Wong

Fight or flight / The green Artivist.

能夠震撼人的作品,很多背後都帶著不為人知的力量。

像翱翔的鳥兒;像本應翱翔但被困住的鳥兒。這些我看來的矛盾同為一體,似乎也是創作者自身的掙扎。

一年多前,Kay Wong結束經營了十年的時裝品牌Daydream Nation,然後遠走北歐,在哥本哈根為時裝設計師Henrik Vibskov工作了一年,到最近回港,並帶來首個個人展覽「Fight or Flight」。

「可以說是由垃圾回收而起的創作吧,在哥本哈根工作的時候身邊有個年輕漂亮的捷克女孩,她十分堅持垃圾分類處理,我也被感染了,建立起這個習慣。這些作品上的羽毛,是我與友人在家附近的湖邊與街道撿拾一兩個小時收集回來的,而紗線是我的品牌剩餘物料。那段時間看了很多關於零浪費生活的短片,世界其他地方都跑得很前了,但在香港也還不是大眾所關注的事。我現在最想做一些sustainable的事。

世界有太多垃圾太多廢棄物……其實買餸可以不用到超市而選擇去街市,實行減少包裝與膠袋等垃圾,但還是難的,有時仍會貪圖方便。買回來的洋蔥外面不是會裹著一層膠織網套嗎?我處理時就在想,該怎樣去運用它而不是隨手丟掉?」

於是她編織,把它們安放在作品之中,很是隨機的素材卻異常契合,甚至生成了另一種感覺,讓人都好奇,那物料是什麼。

「然後我本來買了一個畫框去創作,結果朋友看到便問,怎麼不用窗框、門框?」

腦袋像被打開,原來平日的習慣太根深蒂固,令人忘卻了在慣性框架外思考,於是她開始蒐集舊的窗框門框相框,別人用過的不要的,都是她想要撿回來再用的。

「以前在大學唸編織,但一直用慣機器,今次用織布(Weaving)方法然後一發不可收拾。遲些可能會在香港、北歐兩邊走吧,回到香港反而沒有繼續織,那裡的生活節奏太太不同了。」

用生活上隨手可得的物件,編織最深最底層的情緒,來走過一段段路,過渡只有獨處的時候才亂竄的情感。

// This series of frames started as an experiment of weaving together my new self after a life crisis, I started from collecting ‘found objects’ that spoke to me, the fragility and lightness of the swan feathers spoke to me, I weaved around these old picture frames, which became voids I wanted to fill. The feather spirals remind me of the North American Indian dreamcatchers, and in a way, I have woven in my worst nightmare.

I wonder when you are shoved into a basic mode of survival, struggling to cope with balancing, is it just fight or flight? or rather a mixture of fight AND flight? //

// This series of work is a response to the loss of my loved one, weaving around the old pictures frames I collected, they became voids I wanted to fill, at moments I see death, at moments I see strength, flight and transcendence, the duality of bloodshed and death; and passion, energy and strength, an ambiguous moment frozen in time. //

// I have always loved the film Never Ending Story, this series of work is my tribute to Fantasia, the world of human fantasy, the fictional land that lies deep deep inside the earth. My attempt was to weave in dreams and hopes for the city dweller, who is continuously being eaten up by the emotiness of NOTHING. //

在自己意識不到的時候或非本意去做的時候,那樣(編織)彷彿就成為了一種治療,讓手與心再度接通。

展覽日期直至2017年2月26日

Jouer Atelier

香港灣仔秀華坊1號地下

Lying behind many creations that have a great impact on others is a kind of power unbeknownst to anyone.

Like birds wheeling about in the sky; like birds that would otherwise be wheeling about in the sky had they not been caged. In my eyes, these contradictions are two sides of the same coin, and both seem to represent a creator’s own struggling.

More than one year ago, Kay Wong ended the operation of Daydream Nation, her 10-year-old fashion brand, and then far away she went, to Copenhagen in Northern Europe, where she worked under Henrik Vibskov, a fashion designer, for one year. Recently, She has returned to Hong Kong, along with her first solo exhibition titled “Fight or Flight.”

“I can say waste collection is the point of departure of my creations. During my time working in Copenhagen, I was acquainted with a young and beautiful Czech lady, who insisted strongly on sorting waste. Under her influence, I also got into this habit. I and my friends have spent one to two hours picking up feathers used in these pieces by the lake and on the streets near my home. As for the yarns, they are remainder materials of my brand. Around that time, I watched a lot of short videos about zero-waste life. Many other places in the world have made great strides in this area, but in Hong Kong, it has yet to be a matter gaining much public attention. What I like to do most at present is to contribute to sustainability.

There is too much garbage and too much waste in this world… In fact, when shopping for food ingredients, we have a choice of going to a wet market rather than a supermarket in order to reduce the use of packaging and plastic bags. But it is still difficult to achieve because the merit of convenience still wins over us. The onions we buy are usually wrapped inside a plastic net, aren’t they? When I use the onions, I would think how to make use of the net without just throwing it away.”

That is why she has woven the net into her creations. Even though they are random materials but they fit in unusually well, and they even evoke a different kind of feeling, prompting others to wonder what kind of material that is.

“Later on, I bought a picture frame, which was originally intended for my creations. But in the end, one of my friends who saw it asked why I did not use window or door frames instead.”

The feeling was like having her brain pried open. The habits firmly established in her daily life has prevented her from thinking beyond the regular framework. That was why she began to collect used window, door and photo frames, and those used and unwanted have become what she would like to collect for reuse.

“Back in my college years, I was used to using machines for my studies in weaving. However, after trying my hand at weaving, there is no going back. In the near future, I might shuttle between Hong Kong and Northern Europe. But after returning to Hong Kong, I have not resumed weaving. The living pace is too different there.”

Using objects that you can easily get your hands on in your daily life to weave together the deepest and bottom layer of emotions, for passing through one path after another, getting through the emotions that are in a whirl only when you are on your own.

// This series of frames started as an experiment of weaving together my new self after a life crisis, I started from collecting ‘found objects’ that spoke to me, the fragility and lightness of the swan feathers spoke to me, I weaved around these old picture frames, which became voids I wanted to fill. The feather spirals remind me of the North American Indian dreamcatchers, and in a way, I have woven in my worst nightmare.

I wonder when you are shoved into a basic mode of survival, struggling to cope with balancing, is it just fight or flight? or rather a mixture of fight AND flight? //

// This series of work is a response to the loss of my loved one, weaving around the old pictures frames I collected, they became voids I wanted to fill, at moments I see death, at moments I see strength, flight and transcendence, the duality of bloodshed and death; and passion, energy and strength, an ambiguous moment frozen in time. //

// I have always loved the film Never Ending Story, this series of work is my tribute to Fantasia, the world of human fantasy, the fictional land that lies deep deep inside the earth. My attempt was to weave in dreams and hopes for the city dweller, who is continuously being eaten up by the emotiness of NOTHING. //

When you are doing it unconsciously or not out of your own intention, it (weaving) would become like a form of healing, which reconnects your hands and your heart.

Exhibition runs till 26 February 2017.

Jouer Atelier, G/F, 1 Sau Wa Fong, Wanchai, Hong Kong

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