CHENG Ting Ting: Fall In Fall Out  鄭婷婷《集合之前，解散之後》

CHENG Ting Ting: Fall In Fall Out

7 January - 11 February 2017
 
Gallery EXIT is pleased to announce "Fall In Fall Out", a solo exhibition of new works by CHENG Ting Ting. The exhibition will open on 7 January 2017 and remain on view through 11 February, 2017. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, 7 January from 4 to 6 pm.
 
With a rich array of paintings, Cheng looks back on personal experiences made during childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. But while her work is largely autobiographical, it also touches upon a question of universal importance: How do we balance the need for individuality with the pressure to conform with social norms? Cheng harbours strong doubts about the expectations society places on each of us, and her paintings express these reservations eloquently.
 
In this exhibition, three groups of paintings are shown, each of which deals with a different stage of personal development. The works in the first group, titled "Foreshortening Caused by Lying", all show a person lying alone on a bed in a dimly lit room, motionless and with open eyes, thinking or perhaps just daydreaming.
 
But this state of being alone with oneself is not necessarily a peaceful one. The figures are viewed from an unusually low angle at the foot end of the bed. The angle changes from painting to painting, resulting in different degrees of perspective distortion from the first work of the series, "Light Foreshortening Caused by Lying", to the last one, "Heavy Foreshortening Caused by Lying". This increasing distortion hints at an emerging conflict between self-perception and outside expectations.
 
A subgroup of work, named "Dorm", serves as bridge to the following series. These paintings are based on Cheng’s memories of her first time away from home during her primary school’s graduation camp. We see several children sharing a dorm room, each occupying only a tiny space on the bunk beds. All of them have different characters and habits, and different strategies for coping with the new situation and guarding their personal space.
 
The social experience reaches even greater intensity in the second group of paintings. In "Training Camp", we witness secondary school students taking part in organised activities designed to teach them the importance of mutual support and team work. One subgroup of paintings, titled "Trust Fall", shows a student falling headfirst from a ledge while others form a human safety net below.
 
Throughout these works, Cheng skilfully employs colours and textures to highlight the emotional states of her figures. In "Training Camp", energetic strokes and feverish colours reflect the hyperactive excitement and idealism of the participants. This sharply contrasts with the subdued greens and blues used in "Foreshortening Caused by Lying", a palette that further emphasises the sense of detachment and isolation.
 
Cheng is acutely aware of the temporary nature of social bonds. Her frustration is powerfully expressed in "Ice Rink", the last series of paintings. Here we see different persons – some of them skating students, others tutors or other staff – gliding across the ice or standing at the edge of the rink. The skaters move around freely within the confines of the ice rink, just like individuals are allowed to pursue different directions within social boundaries.
 
At this stage, the prescribed camaraderie of the secondary school students is a mere memory. Just like every skater carves out a different route over the ice, each of us lives life in their own way.

鄭婷婷
《集合之前，解散之後》
 
2017年1月7日至2月11日

安全口畫廊呈獻鄭婷婷最新個展《集合之前，解散之後》，展覽於2017年1月7日至2月11日開放，開幕酒會在1月7日（星期六）下午4時至6時舉行。
 
鄭氏以一系列油畫回顧童年、青少年以至成年時期的個人經歷，大部分作品帶有自傳式的描繪，但同時亦觸及普世人性，探討對個性的追求與順從社會規範之間的平衡。鄭氏對社會加諸人的期望抱存懷疑，並透過油畫清晰有力地呈現。
 
展覽主要由三組作品構成，反映不同的個人發展階段。「躺臥所引致的投影縮減」展示一個人躺臥床上的姿態，房間裡燈光暗淡，那個人睜開眼、靜止地躺臥著，可能是在思考，可能是發白日夢。然而，畫中獨處的心理狀態未必完全是沉著鎮靜。人物從床尾位置以極低角度視角呈現，因此出現輕度、中度以至重度投影縮減，暗示自我想像與外界期望之間的落差。
 
「營舍房間」是過度至第二組作品的橋樑，並源自鄭氏首次離家，參加小學畢業營的經歷。作品展示學生在營舍房間的情形，每個人佔據雙層床的一小部分。他們的個性和生活習慣各有不同，在全新的環境下也衍生出不同的應對方式，各自守衛著個人空間。
 
第二組作品「訓練營」將社交環境中「在一起」的感受更深刻展示，是整個展覽的軸心系列。一群中學生正在參與強調團結互信的營地活動，當中《信任背摔》的主角站在高處向後倒下，下面的組員築成人網將他接住。
 
作品均以純熟的色彩運用與豐富筆觸流露多重情感。「訓練營」的筆觸狂放激烈，用色鮮明紛陳，反映參加者的亢奮與全程投入；相反地，「躺臥所引致的投影縮減」採用了較陰柔的藍綠色系，強調獨處一室、與外界隔離的狀態。
 
鄭氏深明群體生活的熱情往往稍縱即逝，並在最後一組作品「溜冰場」有力展現。學生、導師和職員各自在場上溜動或在邊沿站立，就如不同個體在社會框架內自由活動。
 
畢業後，中學生的群體情誼已經成為回憶，溜冰者在場上留下不同的痕跡，而我們每個人亦各自守護著其崗位和人生取態。