Curated and presented by Contemporary Crafts Centre
About the Exhibition
Homecoming is a trio group exhibition presenting new works by Eugene CHUNG, Ho LAI and Gerald MAK. This group of artists share some common grounds - being Hong Kong born and raised, each relocated to London at different times to pursue higher education in ceramics and eventually found their way of living in the United Kingdom.
Although the three artists have different temperaments and perspectives in their respective art practices, at the core, they share the same appreciation for ceramics. So naturally, they find ceramics as a material and medium for self-expression, an artistic language to innovate, experiment with, and create their designs.
Their practices are informed by their everyday encounters, personal experiences, and exploration of cultural identities, which all come to them naturally as they navigate different cultures and social contexts.
The works for this show were created in London, far from the home of the artists. But, overcoming hurdles of the new normal in the past three years during the pandemic, it is almost ceremonial for the group to be able to exhibit formally in Hong Kong again, the city they love and grew up in.
鍾雍爵、黎晧和麥凱謙三位陶瓷創作人的共通之處 — 於香港土生土長，各自在不同時期移居倫敦升學並鑽研陶藝，最終在英國找到了自己的生活方式。今次在香港的聯展主題是《回家》。
他們在創作上有著不同的風格和觀點，但不謀而合熱愛陶藝，他們很自然地把陶瓷視為自我表達的素材和媒介，一種可創新、試驗和構想設計的藝術語言。
三位陶瓷創作人在日常際遇、個人經歷和對文化身份的探索中實踐各自的理念，而這些元素隨著他們所身處的不同文化和社會環境，不期然地又相互影響。
今次展出的都是他們在倫敦創作的作品，回望過去三年，後疫情下的新常態，縱使障礙不少，三位陶瓷創作人把作品千里迢迢地帶「回家 」，在自身熱愛和土生土長的香港展出，實在別具意義。
Meet the Artists 藝術家分享
Time: 1.10.2022 (Saturday) 3:00 - 4:30pm
Venue: Contemporary Crafts Centre
Shop H, G/F Hollywood Building, 186 Hollywood Road (Entrance at Upper Station Street), Sheung Wan
Language: Cantonese (Supplemented in English) 廣東話進行
This is a Free-of-Charge event 費用全免
The artists Eugene CHUNG, Ho LAI (via zoom), Gerald MAK will be meeting participants in person to share about their experiments and creative journey in the U.K. at this special viewing session.
This group of artists were Hong Kong born and raised, and each relocated to London at different times to pursue further education in ceramics. How did they explore their identities as they navigate different cultures and social contexts and how did these factors in turn influence their practices? The artists will share their personal experience and insights.
藝術家鍾雍爵、黎晧（透過視像會議參與）和麥凱謙將親臨展覽主持導賞，分享他們在英國的陶藝實驗及創作歷程。
三位陶藝家均在香港長大，而都在不同時期選擇於倫敦深造陶藝創作。他們會怎樣探索身份認同及適應異地文化？生活在與香港不同的社會脈絡裡，會為他們的創作帶來怎樣的碰撞和啟發？他們將於這次分享中娓娓道來。
Eugene CHUNG
Eugene CHUNG first discovered working with clay when an art teacher taught him to hand-build with clay at his high school. He pursued his further education in the United Kingdom due to the shortage of ceramic courses in Hong Kong. After graduation, Eugene moved to an isolated former industry hub - Silvertown, a borough of London, surrounded by derelict and dilapidated refineries linked with intertwining pipelines. The aromas of the few remaining industrial plants in the area stimulate his childhood memories of observing his father crafting and reassembling car components.
As the son of a garage owner and mechanist from Hong Kong, the elements of shapes and forms of machinery alongside his father’s craftsmanship subconsciously accustomed him to mechanical rhythms, structures and the sharp-sweet smelling gas in the air. These inspired him to make vessels with the lid to capture the purity of designed components and interpret his inner feelings by painting the surface with on-glaze enamel and colour glaze.
鍾雍爵於中學時期初次接觸到陶⼟的⼿捏技法，進而對陶藝產生興趣，有見香港的陶藝課程有限，所以到英國升學。畢業後搬到倫敦東⾯⼀個較偏僻的工業區 - 銀城，區內僅存的工業建築和機油氣味喚起了他兒時在父親經營的⾞房，觀察父親組裝汽車機械零件的童年回憶。 父親在機械上的工藝和態度正成為了他創作這⼀系列作品的靈感。他試圖製作有塞和蓋的陶瓷作品，來表達機械零件之間的組裝結構，而釉上彩和釉藥色彩正記載了他日常在這工業城中的生活片段。
About the Artist
Eugene CHUNG was born in Hong Kong and is currently based in London. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Central Saint Martins in 2016. Due to the success of the degree show, he was interviewed by Ceramic Review in 2017, a contemporary ceramic magazine for the ‘One to Watch’ column. Eugene then completed his MA in Ceramics and Glass at Royal College of Art in 2018 and exhibited his works at different fairs, such as China Craft Week in 2018 and Ceramic Art London in 2020 since graduated. Beside his own practice, he also works as a ceramic tutor at Camden Art Centre to share his experience and techniques.
鍾雍爵⽣於香港，現居於英國倫敦。2016年在倫敦中央聖⾺丁藝術與設計學院完成學⼠課程，在2017年獲得英國當代陶藝雜誌Ceramic Review 邀請並接受’One to watch’專欄專訪。隨後於2018年在英國皇家藝術學院完成碩士課程，主修陶瓷及玻璃。畢業後更於2018年獲邀參展杭州國際工藝周和在2020年英國舉辦的Ceramic Art London。鍾雍爵亦熱心於陶藝教育，現於英國Camden Art Centre教學。
Ho LAI Consistent with Ho LAI’s experimental approach to clay and glazes, this group of her old and new pieces of artwork showcased the result of material experimentations and colour combinations.
The new series of works titled ‘Smells Like Lavender’ reflects the memory of Ho strolling and wandering in the British lavender field - not long after embracing the life of the new normal. Through recalling being overwhelmed by the aroma of the flora, Ho started this series of artworks to express the sensory experience through visual representation.
“I find poetics in the transformation of material through working in the approach both subversive and experimental. Through colour combinations and material experimentation, I intended to capture the dissolving quality of clay and glaze through firing.”
黎晧的⼀系列新舊作品呈現她⼀貫的創作風格 ，她以瓷⼟和釉藥作實驗，探索不同物料和顏⾊的可能性。最新的作品「薰衣草香噴噴」記錄了她在英國疫情後的⼀個夏天，前往薰衣草園的經歷，她以陶藝詮釋記憶中薰衣草帶來來那獨特的感觀體驗。
「從陶瓷物料的轉化中，我尋找出微妙的詩意，嘗試打破陶瓷的傳統製作，通過色彩和物料的實驗，捕捉在燒製過程中瓷⼟和釉藥瞬間的變化。」
About the Artist
Ho LAI is a ceramic artist from Hong Kong, currently based in London. Her work explores the contemporary nature of ceramics, experimenting with the materials and processes involved in its creation. In 2016, she graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, attaining a Bachelor of Art in Visual Arts and was awarded the AVA Keeper of Studies Collection Award. In 2019 Lai graduated from the Royal College of Art, attained MA in Ceramics & Glass and was awarded The Grocer’s Hall Scholarship.
Upon graduation, she was shortlisted as one of the FRESH exhibition emerging artists at the British Ceramics Biennial. In 2021, she was shortlisted as the British Ceramics Biennial AWARD exhibition headline artist and was commissioned to create a wall installation named ‘Fluxing Red’, exhibited in Stoke-on-Trent, the ceramics capital in the UK.
She was also shortlisted for the European Prize for Applied Arts and the XVII International Contemporary Ceramics Award in the same year. Her works are exhibited widely in the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, and Hong Kong. She is currently continuing her artistic practice at her studio in southeast London.
黎晧⽣於⾹港，現居於英國倫敦。其作品以探索陶瓷的當代性及實驗物料為主。黎晧於2016年在香港浸會大學視覺藝術院完成學士課程， 隨後於2019年在英國皇家藝術學院完成碩士課程，主修陶瓷及玻璃。
黎晧於在學期間獲頒英國商會會堂獎學金，畢業後入圍英國陶瓷雙年展FRESH新進藝術家獎。她於2021年再次入圍英國陶瓷雙年展， 獲委約創作裝置作品「Fluxing Red」，作品於英國瓷都 — 史篤城展出，成為香港首位競逐英國陶瓷雙年展- AWARD展覽大獎的年青陶藝家。
Photography credit: Collins Tam
Gerald MAK
Gerald MAK continues his exploration of carving the hand motif in new forms. Gerald is fascinated by what the hand represents as a signifier of labour and gestures of communication, and to him, the hand's symbol has shifted to one of care and compassion. Gerald also felt the symbolic gesture of care by seeing his sister having her first child last year. The new series is a celebration, as Gerald also contemplates the changing relationships and dynamics of the new baby's arrival within his family.
麥凱謙繼續探索如何以新形式來雕刻「手」形圖案。他對「手」的不同姿勢感到著迷，「⼿」具多重的意義，代表著勞動及接觸、溝通， 也象徵著關懷和同情，尤其去年姊姊誕下第⼀個孩⼦時，麥凱謙更親⾝感受到 「⼿」這種標誌著愛護的姿態。新系列的作品正好記載了這新生命為他家庭帶來的微妙變化。
About the Artist
Gerald MAK is an artist based in London. He completed his MA in Ceramics and Glass at Royal College of Art in 2020. During his studies, he was awarded the RCA China Project cultural experience, a five month residency in Jingdezhen, China.
His practice is rooted in process, labour and material, predominantly in the language of clay, and process of carving. Gerald develops his practice in response to personal experiences and shared cultural identities - referencing his own exploration of self as a Hong Kong born artist now living in London. Frogs and hands are often used in his work as metaphors, carry certain meanings and become fantastical elements in the work. His practice spans sculpture, vessels to tile panels and installations.
Since graduation, Gerald has been awarded the Franz Rising Award 2021, DYCP Grant from Arts Council England, POCC x Shutterstock Artist Grant, and featured as an emerging talent on Crafts Magazine UK and Ceramics Review UK.
麥凱謙⽣於香港，現居於英國倫敦。他於2020年在英國皇家藝術學院完成碩⼠課程，主修陶瓷及玻璃。在學期間，他獲得英國皇家藝術學院授予在中國體驗文化的機會，到中國景德鎮駐村五個⽉。
麥凱謙從事陶⼟創作，重視過程、⼿感和物料，尤其喜歡雕刻的過程。作為現居倫敦的香港藝術家，他從個⼈經歷和多重⽂化⾝身份中探索⾃我。「青蛙」和「手」這些奇幻元素成為了他的作品特色，並經常被用作隱喻，蘊含涵義 ，作品涵蓋雕塑、器皿、瓷磚⾯板和裝置。
麥凱謙先後獲得2021年年FRANZ法藍瓷光點計畫選為「光點新秀」、英格蘭藝術委員會DYCP資助、 POCC x Shutterstock藝術家資助，並獲英國工藝雜誌和英國陶瓷評論為新秀⼈才。
Heat Detector
Eugene CHUNG
Thrown and glazed stoneware with hand-painted enamel decoration and gold lustre
H250mm x D125mm
2022
Smells Like Lavender - the Cave
Ho LAI
stoneware, bone china, glazes, mother of pearl lustre
H200mm x W150 x D60mm
2022
Photography credit: Marta Fernàndez Canut
Gestural table screen (lapis & amber)
Gerald MAK
Hand carved and glazed terracotta panel, framed in English Sycamore
H355mm x W270 x D135mm
2022
This exhibition is part of Crafts Dialogue 2022. 這展覽是「對談 工與藝」的一部分。
#CraftsDialogue aims to explore how cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary approach can inform long-standing values associated with craft practice and innovation. 「對談 工與藝」探索跨文化和跨界別的趨勢，如何可為工藝增值，實踐傳承和創新。
Contemporary Crafts Centre
A gallery space dedicated to presenting handcrafted art creations, empowered by Giant Year and SOIL in Hong Kong.
We feature contemporary craft-based artists whose work embraces the increasingly blurred boundaries between art, craft and design.
Address:
Shop H, G/F Hollywood Building
186 Hollywood Road (Entrance at Upper Station Street)
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
Opening Hours:
12nn - 6pm, Tuesday-Friday
12nn - 6:30pm, Saturday-Sunday
Off on Monday and public holidays
Enquiry: 2217 9288 / 9559 3908
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