Reflections on Paper: Artists Open Up About Their Personal Stories

Description

Karin Weber Gallery presents Reflections on Paper, a group exhibition of 11 artists from Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China and Myanmar. In the exhibition, paper is used to communicate reflections on their personal lives and social phenomena, past and present.

Paper may not seem like the most impressive medium when compared to canvas, sculptures or installations, which allow the creation of larger works. However, the ubiquity of paper and the fact that it is slowly being replaced by digital media invests it with a certain nostalgia and expressiveness; almost everyone has memories of using paper of some sort as a child. The works in this exhibition evoke a contemplative, reflective mood. The flimsy, supple nature of paper also allows artists to communicate their message with subtlety and attention to detail, where they use methods like layering thin strips of masking tape, paper-cutting and traditional-style brushstrokes.

Many of the works are deeply personal, reflective of the artist’s emotional landscape and the contexts where the artist felt that way. There is the poignance of moving house and leaving one’s past behind, the jarring contrasts between foreign and local during the colonial period, and spiritual awakenings experienced in a foreign land, under the Venetian night sky. The collection of works demonstrates the versatility of paper as a medium and its capability to carry sensitive and personal emotions.