LIGHT AND DARK CITIES
Lichte en Duistere Steden
Bar Buka Amsterdam
March - April 2026
My mixed-media oil paintings are often focused on abstract and impressionist cityscapes. The paintings are not based or copied from any particular city and are mostly drawn from my imagination. The city fascinates me as a concept, a form of life and a place of interaction. I grew up in Hong Kong which had an influence on the way I paint cities. On the one hand, cities are dynamic spaces that attract people for work, education and better opportunities. While on the other, cities are also places of high competition and stress and hold within them the feelings of oppression of the people. Through my work I encourage viewers to contemplate what it means to live in a city: Do we flourish or do we feel oppressed to live within them? Do we associate them as spaces of light or spaces of dark?
I am grateful to finally have a chance to exhibit my artwork here and I would like to send a big thank you to Bar Buka for their help in organizing this exhibition! :)
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Ik werk zowel met traditionele als digitale media. Mijn mixed-media-olieverfschilderijen richten zich vaak op abstracte en impressionistische stadsgezichten. De schilderijen zijn niet gebaseerd of gekopieerd van een specifieke stad, maar komen voornamelijk voort uit mijn eigen verbeelding. De stad fascineert mij als concept, als levensvorm en als plek van interactie. Ik ben opgegroeid in Hong Kong, wat invloed heeft gehad op de manier waarop ik steden schilder. Enerzijds zijn steden dynamische plekken die mensen aantrekken voor werk, onderwijs en betere mogelijkheden. Anderzijds zijn steden ook plekken van grote competitie en stress, en dragen zij gevoelens van onderdrukking in zich. Door mijn kunstwerk, moedig ik bezoekers aan om na te denken over wat het betekent om in een stad te leven: bloeien we op of voelen we ons juist onderdrukt? Ervaren we de stad als een plek van licht of als een plek van duisternis?
Ik ben dankbaar dat ik eindelijk de kans heb om mijn werk hier te exposeren en ik wil Bar Buka hartelijk bedanken voor hun hulp bij het organiseren van deze tentoonstelling! :)
MECHANIC VERSUS ORGANIC
March, 2018
My artwork is always an expression of my concepts, feelings and personal experiences. When it came to choosing a theme I wanted to base my artwork on a current and personal issue I felt emotional about. This was the experience of oppression from school work and the concept of losing one’s humanity to become mechanical. This idea established my theme: Mechanical versus Organic.
My vision for my artwork is to encourage the viewer to analyse and to interpret my artwork. I want my viewer to become immersed and feel confronted by the large scale and opaque colors. In my exhibition I have achieved this with the use of lighting on areas I want the viewer to focus on.
DREAM
June, 2019
9 DAYS later I finished this painting: “Dream”. This wall painting (also a stage) was made for a friend who works at the True Love Children Art Centre in the Cattle Depot Artist Village, Hong Kong. The centre specializes in helping children with special needs such as autism and ADHD. When I arrived in Hong Kong looking for work, my friend asked me if I could paint a movable wall at the centre. I agreed and had the choice to pick the idea/theme for the wall. Since this was in a setting for children I had chosen a fantasy-like scene, an alternative world that they could venture in without the reality of his or her situation. In the process of painting “Dream” I also thought it to be directed to young adults who desired an escape from society. I am overall happy with how it turned out, but even more glad that my friend at the centre and the children love it very much!
Medium: Acrylic paint on wall, Acrylic paint on wood (stage).
(June, 2019)
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Cattle Depot Artist Village was originally used as a slaughterhouse from 1908 to 1999. It was renovated and developed into a village for artists in 2001. It is now home to around 20 art groups.