Lucille Yuk Yin Lo: Artist of Distinction by Associate Professor Terry Batt
Review on Lucille Yuk Yin Lo's exhibition, 'Illusion and Reconstruction' - by Dr. Peter Hill, Associate Professor, University of New South Wales, 2008
‘Lucille’s current work gives us a sense of stillness and contemplation. True to her desire to synthesize, she gives us a mix of sculptural installation, painterly reflection, and a lasting feeling of the crossing point between the secular and the religious.’ – Dr. Peter Hill, Associate Professor, University of New South Wales
Review on Lucille Yuk Yin Lo’s exhibition, ‘Illusion and
Reconstruction’ – by Dr. Ma Kwai Shun, 2008
The project ... consisted of a series of paintings and
installation artworks, which were professional, displayed with serene
simplicity and effective lighting. The
visual metaphors, symbols or fundamental elements of each individual piece were
concisely focused with emphasis on philosophical or cultural references (such
as Chinese text or illegible English words, seals, silver and gold papers) and
versatile application of various principles, such as unity of form, symmetry in
composition, repetition and variation of parts and contrast of texture and
colour schemes (the use of black contrasted with gold or silver). The integrative approach in the installation
pieces were particularly impressive and had demonstrated assimilation of
relevant knowledge, ideas and elements across disciplines from both traditional
and contemporary art, East and West. The
open spatial format or 3-D stage-like setting invites participation and
dialogue between the viewers and the artworks.
It is a refreshing experience contemplating in front or strolling along
the rows of glittering golden rice bowls, which were made of imitation
money. The installed pieces become
altars for us to meditate on the meaning of our life and value systems. Despite the tranquil, religious, melancholic
and austere atmosphere, visitors will be impressed also by the sensual quality
of the exhibits, which reflect a high degree of decorative beauty owing to
their refine craftsmanship.
I would like to commend Lucille’s project for her new
direction and innovative approach in the context of a complex and materialistic
world. She has achieved an eloquent and
expressive style with feminine sensational quality, which not only illustrates
the multi-cultural and dynamic characteristics of Hong Kong identity, but also
reflects her critical insight concerning social consciousness and reconstruction
of cultural values in the field of Hong Kong art.
Lucille Yuk Yin Lo - by Henry Au-yeung
Lucille Yuk Yin Lo at Grotto Fine Art by Ian Findley, Asian Art News, Jan/Feb 2002
South China Morning Post, 12 February 2008
Lucille Lo taps into Taoism to satirise post-
handover Hong Kong, writes Yenni Kwok
Lucille Lo Yuk-yin’s
forthcoming solo exhibition
couldn’t have come at a
better time, with the city
gripped by even the
slightest movement of the Hang
Seng Index. For after exploring social
changes in the past decade, the
multimedia artist concludes that
Hong Kong has become
preoccupied with wealth, status
and glamour.
In Illusion and Reconstruction, at
the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre
from next Thursday, Lo borrows
Taoist concepts of illusion and the
transient nature of life to highlight
and satirise materialism and its
superficiality.
“The exhibition talks about Hong
Kong’s social consciousness and
development of identity,” she says.
“It focuses on society’s outlook
on many things: wealth, cross-
cultural interaction and the changes
since the handover.”
Taoism, with its focus on
spontaneity, has long inspired a
multitude of Chinese artists, but Lo
says her artworks aren’t about Taoist
philosophy and she is not interested
in a discussion about ancient
Chinese thought.
“I play with transliteration", she says. “I use the word dao [‘the
way of things’] as a catalyst.”
In her mixed-media series Not All
That Glitters Is Gold and Tao, Dow,
Dao, the Hong Kong artist
manipulates the Chinese character
dao to examine the city’s obsession with status and glamour. “I want to
show contradictions,” she says.
“On one hand, Taoism is a Chinese
philosophy that promotes
simplicity, natural living and the
abandonment of luxurious lifestyles.
But on the other hand, the character dao makes up half of [the name]
“Dow Jones Index” in Chinese, dao
zhi, and this reflects the pursuit of
materialistic gain.”
Of course, opposing elements,
such as yin and yang, cold and hot,
dark and light, are the mainstays of
Taoism. Lo applies glitters and
makes use of shimmering
aluminium sheeting as a comical
allegory for Hong Kong people’s
dream to turn whatever they touch
into gold. “I use a cheap material like
aluminium to show that not all that
glitters is gold,” she says.
She questions the emphasis on
financial success in Glittering Roofs.
The inexpensive, glittery roofs are
inspired by an old Chinese saying:
“Golden houses come from books”.
Other works, such as installations
Void and Illusion, feature golden rice
bowls, a metaphor for well-paid
jobs, yet their empty state suggests
the hollow aspect of success.
The thought-provoking
exhibition is a far cry from her earlier
artistic endeavours in traditional
Chinese ink painting.
Not All That Glitters pieces (top and
left) and Reconstruction IV (far left)
After studying Chinese painting
with a master of the Lingnan school
of painting, Lo began painting idyllic
images of nature and landscapes.
However, she came to feel that
Chinese painting, traditionally a
refuge from the world of suffering,
didn’t offer an outlet for her interest
in social issues, from women’s rights
to economic inequality.
“I’ve always been with the
underdogs,” she says. “I am moved
by the images of poverty and
suffering around the world. I would
like to be more expressive and have
a dialogue with society. I feel that
Chinese painting cannot capture
these aspects of me.”
In 1997 Lo, who previously read
commerce, decided to study western
art at Melbourne’s RMIT University.
She did a bachelor’s degree in fine
arts before moving on to a master’s
and then a doctoral degree.
“Browsing through the universe of
western art opened up horizons,”
she says. “It was beneficial.”
Significantly, the artworks on
show mark a return to her roots in
Chinese art. The artist uses myriad
Chinese and western symbols in her
work, from bamboo, Chinese seals
and oracle bones to red wine. The
wheel seems to have come full circle.
Browsing through
the universe of
western art opened
up horizons
......................................................
During the course of her studies, Lo
witnessed a profound social and
political change in Hong Kong,
which she has reflected in her works.
“After 1997, there was a subtle
shift in society,” she observes. The
handover was followed by the
economic downturn and then came
the Sars epidemic in 2003.
“It was a tragic and anxious time
but, in hindsight, Sars brought
society together.”
Dominance, an installation
of rows of bamboo poles
(symbolising Chinese culture) in
front of a glass of red wine on a
table (symbolising the west), is the
artist’s reinterpretation of Hong
Kong’s colonial past. In other
artworks, she paints jumbles of
Chinese and English words – often
not legible – to signify the cross-
cultural encounter and the
adaptation of English expressions
into local Cantonese.
Lo’s deep admiration of her
hometown is strongly reflected in
the Reconstruction series. The
artworks use cut and charred
bamboo to reflect the city’s
difficult history.
“Hong Kong has been through
difficult times, especially in the early
part of the colonial era,” she says.
“There was lots of pain before it
developed into what it is now.”
She sees bamboo as a symbol of
endurance and strength. “I find
Hong Kong people are as flexible
and resilient,” she says.
“They always manage to spring
back no matter how difficult their
life has become. Bamboo is also
hollow in the middle, which for me
symbolises enough space in our
hearts to harbour compassion.
“I try to look for the positive
elements in society,” she says.
“Of course, we need to acknowledge
there are negative elements.
Hong Kong society is money-
orientated ... hopefully, that
may change over time.”
......................................................
Illusion and Reconstruction,
Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre,
7A Kennedy Rd, Central, free.
Feb 21-27, 10am-9pm; Feb 28,
10am-5.30pm. Inquiries: 2545 3262
Lucille Yuk Yin Lo by Dr. Sophia Law, Lingnam University
It was in the 1980s that I made the acquaintance of Lucille Lo as a fellow student learning with the Chinese painting legend Yang Shanshen. I knew little of her painting then since there were so many of us although she impressed me as a graceful and elegant lady. Years later, I was reacquainted with her. Graceful as ever, she had transformed much as an artist, working in a completely new medium and theme.
I still have vivid recollections of that day at the Fotanian Open Studios. Feasting my eyes on studio after studio of refreshing and invigorating art works thrilled me through and through. At the height of all this exhilaration, I stepped into the studio of the late artist Jerry Kwan and found myself face to face with a riveting installation that put the commotion inside of me to a sudden halt. Entitled Illusion, the installation by Lucille consists of long dark panels hanging side by side on the unpainted wall. Three of the panels are neatly inlaid with small squares from top to bottom. Close up, the squares reveal themselves to be in a harmonious mixture of grey, black, brown, green, blue, yellow and orange that are subdued and archaistic but by no means dull or dreary. From a distance, seven bigger squares can be made out from each of the three columns of small squares. Attractive and tonally different, they seem to be complementing one another while holding their own positions in that vast dark space. Extending onto the floor are three neat columns of dark panels placed end to end, each surmounted by two golden bowls. Both evenly spaced, the glittering bowls contrast starkly with the dark panels. Whatever tension that should have arisen from such contrast is neutralized by the sense of order exuding from the piece as a whole, suggesting solemnity rather than flamboyance. Static and serene, the work speaks in a medium and with a visual language that are Western and modern and yet the aesthetics embodied is purely oriental.
 |
| Lucille Yuk Yin LO, Illusion, imitation money and mixed media, size: variable, 2006 |
Indeed, the current exhibition “Plurality” celebrates the accomplishment of not only the artist that is Lucille but also the unique breeding ground for art that is Hong Kong. Let us congratulate ourselves here in Hong Kong for having brilliant artists like Lucille Lo.
Sophia Law
Assistant Professor
Department of Visual Studies
Lingnan University
Assistant Professor
Department of Visual Studies
Lingnan University
(Translation by Tina Liem)
認識盧玉燕是八零年代的事，當年隨楊善深老師習國畫，盧是我的師姐。由於楊老師的學生眾多，那時候對於盧的畫，印象不深；倒是對於她的人，感覺她是一個溫文爾雅的女士。再重遇盧已是多年之後的事，人幽雅如昔，惟作品不論是媒介和內容，卻完全脫胎換骨。
記得那年參觀火炭藝術村開放日，穿梭村內數十畫室，好不熱鬧，所到之處盡是充滿新鮮和活力的作品，興奮的情緒正在上漲之際，我踏進以故藝術家關晃先生的工作室，眼前的裝置藝術像是有股叫人凝視的力量，忽然之間把內心那份喧鬧叫停。作品名為《虛幻》，正是盧玉燕的作品。在那樸實原色的牆壁上掛著數塊直立而烏漆漆的黑木板，上面嵌了三行排列整齊的小方塊砌成的三道直立圖案。近看，每一塊小方塊都由複雜、豐富而又不同亮度的灰、黑、棕、綠、藍、黃、橙交錯而成，而顏色的調子古樸和諧、沈實而不沈鬱；遠看，三行直立的長方形中隱藏七個正方形，層次豐富，亮度不一，似是互補互通卻又靜穆地緊守著自己在那倘大烏黑的空間內的綱位。圖案向地面伸展而出的是三行排列整齊的長方形黑木板，上面有序的放著一隻又一隻的金碗，碗與碗的空間、行與行的相距，規律有序。那閃爍耀眼的金與烏漆漆的黑木形成強烈的對比，但奇怪的是，那份強烈對比應有的張力彷彿給整件作品的規序所純化，只顯莊重而不浮誇。這是一件凝、靜、肅、穆的作品。它借用的媒體和視覺語言是現代而西方的，但表現的美學內容卻很東方。
盧 玉 燕， 「 虛 幻 」， 綜 合 媒 介， 裝 置， 2006
中、西交融，East meets West是評論現代藝術，特別是香港現代藝術被人廣泛引用的形容詞，有時廣泛得說了等於沒說。我深信好的藝術反映的是藝術家的內涵、學養和修為。好的藝術作品不同併貼，一切沿自藝術家內心自然情感的流露，採取那種媒體，選用什麼樣的語言，只因能夠貼切表現藝術家內心呈現的境界。是中、是西？東方、西方？傳統、現代？當中的創作過程那由得分辨？又何需分辨？也正因為不能分辨，成就出來的作品才能是真正的中、西交融，混合無繨而自然。楊善深老師是香港嶺南派的大師，我和盧玉燕有幸曾受教於大師門下。嶺南派的精髓，不在風格而在精神，高劍父先生明確地說藝術要表現時代精神。看盧師姐的創作，由水墨、混合媒介、到裝置藝術，記錄的不止是時代的精神，還是藝術家個人的內在修為。
是次展覽表現的是盧玉燕的藝術修為，也反映了香港獨特的藝術土壤。讓我們為香港有這樣的藝術家而舉杯！
羅淑敏
(嶺南大學視覺研究系助理教授)
Sophia Law
Assistant Professor
Department of Visual Studies
Lingnan University
Lucille Lo Yuk-yin at Grotto Fine Art by Ian Findley, Sept/Oct 2011
Lucille Lo Yuk-yin at Grotto Fine Art by Ian Findley, Sept/Oct 2011
