我們生活在一個⽭盾的世界。人與人之間總會有緊張的暗湧，這就是⼈類的本質。蟻穎琳藉著這次個展，深入探討我們潛伏在內心常有的感受：我們真的相愛嗎？你真正了了解別⼈的想法嗎？
We exist in a world full of conflict. Between humans there will always be this undercurrent of tension – it is the very essence of what makes us truly human. In this solo exhibition of Ant Ngai’s most recent works, the artist delves deeper into the sense of the unknown – do we really love each other? Do you really know what the other person thinks?
Why it matters:
這種普遍存在的衝突感和我們所見所想之間的鬥爭，是一場內心的肆虐、強大⽽而無聲的戰爭。藝術家指出徹底的告別是不存在的，每一個結局只是標示了下一個緊張故事情節的開始，展覽的新作就是希望能尋找這個難以捉摸的起點。
This pervasive sense of conflict – that fight between what we see and what we think – is a potent, silent war that rages internally. The artist is insistent that there is never an outright goodbye – because every ending is the most certain indicator that the next storyline of tension is about to start. This group of new paintings is a search for this elusive starting point.
4 Highlights:
．繪畫是蟻穎琳主要創作媒介，作品多以對偶式呈現。內容圍繞⾃身經歷、香港風景和城市⽣活細節。
．其中⿂人為⾓角式經常出現，錦鯉⿂臉隱藏著人們的表情，欲⾔⼜止，以不同姿態和⾝份置⾝人群中，描繪當代人生活之事。
．早期創作受⼗八－九世紀繪畫及夢境影響，著重⼈物形態，部分描述愛情關係。近年時常以香港自然風境和城市景象為背景，專注顏⾊運用，嘗試探索以顏⾊筆觸引發情感閱讀的可能性。
．本次展覽的主要人物沒有以人形描繪，如果人們放棄⾃己認為珍貴的東西，畫中人則代表我們將失去的⼀一切。
．Painting is the main medium the artist works with, mostly in couplets. Content inspired from daily life, the nature and urban landscapes among the city.
．Fish Man always appear in her paintings. The Koi fish’s speechless face hides inner emotions. The pair of Fish Man are put in the crowd with different postures and identities, depicting the life of contemporary people.
．Ngai’s early style was influenced by her dreams and paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries, focusing on the shapes of character and partly describing love relationships. In recent years, she used Hong Kong’s natural as background, focusing on the use of color, trying to explore the possibility of using coloring and brushstrokes to trigger emotional reading.
．The main characters in this exhibition are not depicted in human form; yet they do represent a manifestation of all that we stand to lose, if people let go of what is precious.
Background – Ngai Wing Lam:
蟻穎琳現於香港居住及工作。她的近作曾展出於自然基金會香港分會主辦的 《海洋的印記》（香港海海港城美術館 2020）、亞洲藝術文獻庫的周年籌款拍賣會2020、《逢星期二》（香港賽⾺會創意藝術中心，2018）、《火腿 未，來式》（台灣高雄駁二藝術特區火腿藝廊 2017）、《獵⽝號⼩旅行》（台灣高雄駁⼆藝術特區未藝術空間2017）、《富德四重奏：駐樓藝術家作品展》（艺鵠 2014)、個展《不見不散》（YY9畫廊 2015）、《⿂人閱讀時間》（艺鵠 2012）等。她的作品亦收藏於不同機構空間。
Ngai Wing Lam currently lives and works in Hong Kong. Her most recent exhibitions include the Tales of the Ocean (WWF-HK x Gallery by the Harbour 2020); Asia Art Archive’s annual auction
2020; Every Tuesday (Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, Hong Kong 2018); The Voyage of the Beagle (WINWIN ART, Taiwan 2017); 火腿 未，來來式 (HAM gallery, Taiwan 2017); Foo Tak Quartet Artists work showcase (Art and Culture Outreach, Hong Kong 2014); solo exhibition Until You Are Here (YY9 GALLERY, Hong Kong 2015); Reading the Time of Fish Man (Art and Culture Outreach, Hong Kong 2012). Her works are collected by different orginizations.
Final Tips:
藝術家有意地將人物放置於香港各個明確的地點，例如九龍塘附近的大坑東和石硤尾的白⽥田邨，試圖在這個瞬息萬變的宇宙中尋找方向。
The intentional placement of characters in very recognisable Hong Kong locations – such as Tai Hang Tung near the Kowloon Tong district, and the Pak Tin Estate in Shek Kip Mei – is the artist’s way of trying to find bearings in this otherwise ever-changing world.
如果看⾒他請告訴我
Searching for Lost Souls
Date:
2022.8.3 – 9.4
Venue:
Touch Gallery
⾹港中環荷李活道10號3座202室
Room 202, Block 3 Barrack Block, Tai Kwun, Hong Kong
Courtesy to the gallery and the artist