Perfect Pairing
Text: Rachel Duffell—In House Magazine May 2010
Photos: Man Fung-yi and Galerie Ora-Ora
Man Fung-yi is recognized within Hong Kong’s contemporary art scene for her distinctly feminine sculptures which often exhibit the value she places on Chinese tradition as she strives to keep her heritage alive. The artist was a finalist in the Sovereign Asian Art Prize in 2007 and 2008 and sold at Sotheby’s Asian Contemporary Art sale last year. Her latest pairs of unique sculptural forms feature prominently at The Upper House.
Man Fung-yi’s most recent exhibition, “Weaving Intimacy: Body Lines by Man Fung-yi”, featured a selection of her signature clothing sculptures. Created from both stainless steel and brass, her metallic replicas of all manner of garments and accessories from the traditional Chinese qipao to high heels and handbags, bring a feminine element to the harsh metal used in the sculptures whilst playing out the artist’s own personal memories.
In the catalogue for the exhibition, the artist explained the concept behind her clothing sculptures. “They are all clothes my husband, my son and I have worn. I first washed the chosen garment and whilst it was hanging out to dry, I caught the moment where its form or composition of folds was how I liked it best, and solidified it with chemicals. Then I drew lines according to its folds and patterns. Finally, my assistant soldered metal threads along the lines to create the ‘knitted’ effect. It’s inevitable that the original garment be burnt during the process, so each piece of clothing can only make one work. In 2007 I exhibited those sculptures at an exhibition at Fo Tan. The response was great, and a lot of people thought it had a sense of Chinese-ness,” states Man.
Man Fung-yi was born in 1968 in Hong Kong where she has remained ever since, gaining a Bachelor’s followed by a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She then went on to study Daoism, graduating with a Master of Arts and a broader knowledge of Chinese tradition and heritage to incorporate into her work. “I studied religion so I could explore deeper into Daoism, a deep-rooted and very traditional religion of the Chinese. I addressed it in the Oriental context and wanted to seek out the original, primal and minimal essence of life and cosmos. I often like to touch on the issue of life and death as well as the after life. For me, to know more about death will allow me to understand more about life, in which death always implies the meaning of rebirth and infinity of time and space,” Man explains in our interview.
Man’s work often features very personal and private experiences from her own life. When the artist was pregnant with her son, she developed a motif that has become a signature in her works, one that evokes embroidery and is representative of a specific time period in her life. “I developed a ‘burning treatment’ – burning small holes in silk with incense sticks, creating round upon round of neat circular patterns,” explains Man. “I tried to simulate the traditional women’s needlework through this repetitive and continuous method.” Using this new technique, man created her 2001 piece “Simulation of an Ancient Lady by Painting” using the burn marks from the incense on the silk to create the concentric circles of holes, an alternative to embroidery which was not something that appealed to Man. “This ‘burning treatment’ represents my act of embroidery that eventually became an important motif and signature in my art,” says the artist.
One of Man’s most well-known pieces, today part of the Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, was made in 2003 using this incense and silk technique. Entitled “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, the artist made the piece when her sister was ill with SARS during the 2003’s epidemic. Remembering how the incense ritual had helped her through her pregnancy, Man re-enacted it again while her sister battled SARS, only just beating the disease. “I used incense sticks and fire again as if they were a burning license to pray for Heaven’s blessing for my critically ill family member. In order to make perfect circles, I had to be completely calm and still, and rid all thoughts in my mind. With the rising smoke of incense, I felt I had entered a deep state of meditation.”
In 2005 Man started to incorporate the signature motif developed from this practice into her brass sculptures, moving into the creation of 3-dimensional artworks. Soon she began creating pairs of brass sculptures, with the second pieces being similar in shape, size and form, but created from thin strips of stainless steel. “I like to use thin lines to construct metal lattice which has a sense of strength that is similar to a shark net. I always like to create sculptures in pairs because it somehow gives me a sense of security and warmth. This comes from the Chinese concept of ‘Pairing is perfect. Pairing is good.’ Personally, I don’t believe an artwork is unique. I like to reproduce another similar yet different one to form a pair. Some people may think this comes from the idea of Ying and Yang, but to be precise, I think they represent the oxymoron of ‘emptiness in full’.”
One of the other ideas behind her incense-burnt patterns evoking embroidery is that both embroidery and silk are related to women and femininity, something that Man is keen to have associated with her work. As part of a local art scene which is dominated by men, (her husband Mok Yat-sen is also a well-known Hong Kong sculptor), and where sculpture can often involve physical strength, Man was keen to produce sculptures which centre on something softer and more sensitive, yet can still represent strength. Using brass or stainless steel, her clothing sculptures in particular often feature feminine designs like the qipao. She captures the drapery of the clothes effectively, and often the clothing has been frozen in sculptures as if blowing in the wind which makes for pieces that not only convey the lightness in the looser folds and feminine forms, but also a sense of life and movement.
Two sculptures by Man Fung-yi feature at the The Upper House. The first, “Myth of Stars”, is a pair of large, circular forms, one of which is a brass piece with her signature burnt-holes motif while the second part, created from the lighter strips of metal that she’s so fond of working with recreates and reflects the more solid brass piece and leans against it. Man’s second sculpture at The Upper House is a ceramic work, a sculptural medium that the artist is less familiar with. “Making ceramic pieces is quite fresh and interesting for me. I think it was an interactive result between the architect, artist and art consultant,” says Man. “Again, I acted like painting on surfaces of the ceramics, however, I needed to tackle the technical problem of such a material. I had made eight pieces from which to select the most perfect three pieces. I love them very much for their subtle colour tone, their unique texture and also for the amazing combination of them all!” This sculpture features a trio of ceramic pieces, effective in their execution and a further development of the ideas behind her previous works.
“As an artist I was thrilled to work on The Upper House project as it provided me with a good opportunity to try a new material and employ a technique that I hadn’t imagined before. As a whole I found a new possibility in my work which meant a great deal to me,” says Man who places prime importance on the personal experience that inspires and which is resultantly conveyed in her work, alongside the traditions she portrays and the gentle femininity that her works exudes.
