Artist Statement

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When I began my study in art school, a well-respected teacher told us, ‘Drawing is about control.’ Later on, I replaced the word ‘drawing’ with media I experimented with, be it ink, plywood or photographic paper, believing art practice is about controlling the medium and using it to effectively convey my ideas. It was not until I focused on working with clay did I realise something quite the opposite. I might have instant control over how a piece of clay looks, but eventually it controls how I behave. When I carve a piece of clay, it shapes my personality. Unique as it is, clay deserves to be expressed through its own language, or what some people call, physicality. Instead of visualising my thoughts with clay, I let clay speak for itself through my works.

 

In Art as Experience (1934), John Dewey suggests art as a process whose fundamental element is no longer the material ‘work of art’ but rather the development of an ‘experience’. Art requires long periods of activity and reflection, and comes only to those absorbed in observing experience. An artist's work requires reflection on past experience and a sifting of emotions and meanings from that prior experience. Influenced by Dewey’s theory, I start my projects by examining properties of clay and exploring its possibilities, for instance, the role water plays in raw clay and the transformations resulting from firing. Through numerous trials and errors, I learn the characters of different types of clay and the way to communicate with them, ending up with something least expected but absolutely intriguing. 

 

It was declared that artificial intelligence has nothing to learn from humans as AlphaGo beat Lee Sedol in 2016. AI replacing humans in almost every aspect is just a matter of time. Free from emotional influence and physical exhaustion, surgeries will be done with unimaginable precision and efficiency, so as the landing of aircrafts and the making of Hong Kong style milk tea. What we preciously pride ourselves in is no longer a problem to AI. The need to rethink the meaning and purpose of our existence has never been more compelling. It is by experimenting with things that do not seem to yield anything and embracing accidents that never occur to AI, we create. The process of art making might be the last territory for humanity.