WORK

Hybrid, 2021–2022

Hybrid, 2021–2022

In 2020, after living in London for nearly a decade and experiencing unsettling events in Hong Kong, I resumed the ongoing search for my identity and lasting feelings of displacement. 

I find myself as a hybrid – growing up in Hong Kong while it was still a British colony, moving to London, working in a multinational company, and learning to live and work with different cultural influences. I learned about traditional Eastern values through my parents and the society I grew up in while continuously exposed to cultural stimulation from abroad. 

I often finds it uneasy to recognise my heritage. I created Hybrid as a series of works to seek clarity on the subject of identity and belonging. 

In my work, the notion of hybrid is represented by contrasts. I experiment with materials, shapes, textures and colours to suggest opposing properties. Matte and glossy, angular and organic, rough and smooth, bright colours and muted tones are subjects to expression.

I started exploring these approaches from Composition 01 to 03 with various vessel shapes and eccentric and vibrant handles, referring to light beams and neon signs you often find in the bustling island city. 

Composition 04 continues the study of contrast with a piece of memory. The shape was built with the impressions of the skyline of the harbour of my home city. There was a light show every night along all the skyscrapers’ architecture to show the beauty of the modern city.

These pieces were created during the pandemic when I kept thinking about how much Hong Kong had changed since moving to the U.K. Hybrid visualises my beautiful memories of the city.

Composition 01
2021
Porcelain, Stoneware, Glaze
18 cm × 28.5 cm × 10 cm

Composition 02
2021
Porcelain, Stoneware, Glaze
17.5 cm × 28.5 cm × 12.2 cm

Composition 03
2021
Porcelain, Stoneware, Glaze
11.3 cm × 21.5 cm × 9 cm

Composition 04
2022
Porcelain, Stoneware, Glaze
23.5 cm × 31 cm × 5.5 cm