Continuing in a romantic style that also illustrates a poetic, cultural commentary under layered with witticism.The pastel often appears like a puff of smoke filling the paper and yet never to disappear. If the subjects are Hong Kong people, they often appear with the faces purposely obscured, again further raising the identity dialogue.The feature of every day people which are more prominently centered in her works, triggers the audience’s imagination, it is as if the viewer is quite literally able to share in the artist’s memories.
Focusing on the combination between pastel and mixed media, the narrative of the picture relies more on the story telling and integrity, thus guiding the public to reflect on life in Hong Kong, culture, society and humanity. However, only when the Chinese inscription of the titles in the form of sentences below the works, the pastoral works can be considered completed.
In the new series “Forever is a lie, always”Vivian further investigates Hong Kong’s unique popular culture from a new yet relative perspective.The title “Forever isa lie, always (剎那的光輝不是永恆)”is inspired by the moment that went down in history and became monumental in the Hong Kong subculture.Veteran Canto-pop singer Ken Choi ( 蔡楓華 Ken Choi Fung-wah ) at the 1985 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation, when Leslie Cheung won three awards, Choi—who was one of the hosts of the awards show—responded,“A moment of glory is not eternal (剎那的光輝不是永恆).”To say this sparked controversy is somewhat of an understatement as this over zealous comment resulted in Ken Choi being eventually being out casted from the top tier of the industry and disappearing for approximately a decade.
A recent development in the artist’s practice sees a crossover with traditional Chinese painting.The composition evokes the embodiment of landscape painting. Nature paintings that originally evolved during theTang dynasty and developed to become a genre that stood to represent a commune with nature. Such images would convey specific political, philosophical or social convictions which when combined withVivian Ho’s artistic dynamics produce a similar contemporary result.
In this dreamlike universe, once again Vivian invites us to explore these nostalgic cultural scenes and historical Hong Kong moments.
