Life on Canvas
by Chow Chun Fai
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Hello,
Who is Chow Chun Fai in his own words? I am an artist from Hong Kong. What are some essential themes that you continuously explore through your body of work? I do research on classics and great masters. Sometimes I try to sort out what is the secret formula of the great masters. Sometimes I re-interpret Renaissance masterpieces with my own portraits. And other times, I paint stills from classical movies. |
photo: courtesy of the artist |
How do you utilize your artistic lens when navigating ever changing landscapes and complex layers of occurrences that may have a direct or indirect impact on you as a human being?
Being an artist is a way to practice an alternative life. Without a full time job, and of course without a stable income, it allows me to have a different way of seeing and a different way of thinking.
Do you see your output as a way of processing certain feelings and emotions?
No, as I know it would be a very painful path to bundle up my creativity and emotions together. This is a dilemma of my artist friend. When I see her showing great paintings, that means she has been quite depressed in recent times, and vice versa. I do researches and readings. It seems a bit rational.
What does your routine consist of?
I escape and return to reality. I would like to have an alternative in an urban city but at the same time I need a close bondage with reality, socially and politically. So I get in and out, back and forth.
Being an artist is a way to practice an alternative life. Without a full time job, and of course without a stable income, it allows me to have a different way of seeing and a different way of thinking.
Do you see your output as a way of processing certain feelings and emotions?
No, as I know it would be a very painful path to bundle up my creativity and emotions together. This is a dilemma of my artist friend. When I see her showing great paintings, that means she has been quite depressed in recent times, and vice versa. I do researches and readings. It seems a bit rational.
What does your routine consist of?
I escape and return to reality. I would like to have an alternative in an urban city but at the same time I need a close bondage with reality, socially and politically. So I get in and out, back and forth.
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Being an artist from Hong Kong, what are some essential characteristics of the culture, people and life there do you want to share with your audiences around the world?
Hongkongers are local and international, western and oriental. But in recent days under the teargas, as you may have heard from the news, I have to say that there are injustices and Hongkongers are resisting. Hong Kong is in the same situation as Berlin 30 years ago.
What are your definition of truth and reality? As an artist, do you owe anything to the truths that you live and believe in or are you more indebted to imaginary and visual escapes?
I believe all the creation of art is secondary. All we write and paint is based on knowledge we receive from our ancestors. Some artists try to hide their traces in order to be original. But I intend to show them.
Cinema seems to be a great source of inspiration for many of your works. How did your love affair with cinema began? In your opinion, what is the best film of 2019?
The film industry is strong in Hong Kong. The first film I watched in the cinema, when I was a kid, was shot next to my grandma’s apartment. That was just a coincidence. I've watched a lot of films from the 80s and 90s. I am a big fan of films from those decades. They present different interpretations and critical angles from that period of time. I am inspired by those films but they are not my only source of inspiration.
If I have to pick one film from 2019, it is The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
What is the funniest story you’ve heard of recently?
You may have heard about the fake eggs from China— it is hard to believe a swindler would put so much effort into making fake eggs as real eggs are cheap. I heard the second part of the story. A grocer in China received an ad “Discounted Classes: How to make Fake Eggs”. In order to have more business he submitted an application for the course and paid online. The next day he went to the address listed in the ad and found out that the Fake Eggs Class is FAKE.
#WhatMatters to you the most at this point in time and how does your work and life reflect that?
You may have heard the news from Hong Kong. The police are killing the students. Hongkongers are resisting. I can’t really do any artwork, but go on protests. After the exhausting protests I can’t sleep at night, so I paint what I see on the streets. I paint the back of the protestors on a small canvas, as they don’t want to show their faces. That's #WhatMatters to me at this moment.
