This Bitter Earth
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Tobe KAN Kiu Sin 簡喬倩 Ailsa WONG Nga Shan 黃雅珊 This Bitter Earth 23 November – 21 December 2019 Opening: Saturday, 23 November, 2-5 pm Ooh, this, this bitter earth Well, I found out can be, be so, be so cold Today you're young and before you know it Too soon, you've grown old But while a voice within me cries Someone, someone may answer my call And this bitter earth, this bitter, bitter earth May not, may not be so bitter after all -Lyrics excerpt of “This Bitter Earth”, written by Clyde Otis, 1960 “This Bitter Earth” presents new paintings and drawings of emerging artists Tobe KAN Kiu Sin and Ailsa WONG Nga Shan. Both artists are fascinated by the subconscious mind, and reveals in their works the current state of disturbance beyond the calm facades. KAN unfolds the human mind and a sense of alienation in her works, and observed by the absent spectators from afar. KAN continues the exploration of human psychoanalysis and boundaries between life and death. Her new works depict still life from observation of her surroundings - vegetation beside her studio, monastery and cemetery. While the previous series consist of sleeping figures, this time KAN focuses on still life of greeneries. As different as it may seems, both her paintings of lifeless figure and still life are shadowed by shades of green, a colour KAN finds closely related to dead, illness and healing. WONG expresses in her painting simple and yet precise visual languages, investigates the subconscious mind and the state of thoughtlessness. Her work is about memory: a series of thoughts hidden in the subconsciousness rather than a recollection of actual experiences with coherent narratives. She depicted in her work represents anxiety and the state of powerlessness when being on the verge of falling. Through compelling imagery WONG displays in her works primitive emotions with simplicity. |