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Blue-and-white and chubby babies
By Michelle Zhang |
August 9, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HONG Kong designer Dorophy Tang takes images from Chinese blue-and-white porcelain and auspicious symbols of fat babies and uses them in artwork and design. Michelle Zhang reports.
Wearing a gray hoodie, a pair of skinny jeans and pink ankle-high sneakers, Dorophy Tang looks more like a girl next door than a promising young artist.
At age 26, the Hong Kong native has made a name for herself for her efforts in reviving the art of qing hua ci, or traditional Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, by blending its exquisite patterns into various art pieces, from oil paintings to furniture.
"I have been collecting and researching blue-and-white porcelain ware since I was in university," says the industrial design graduate from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. "To me, they represent the traditional Chinese understanding of beauty and elegance.
"Meanwhile, I can always see the possibilities to convert them into modern, or even post-modern art pieces, and I want to bring them a new life."
The same is true of her popular "shopping baby" collection, which Tang has created based on the baby images from traditional Chinese lunar calendar. Like the blue-and-white porcelains, the smiling, chubby little kids are featured in many of her works, bringing smiles to the viewers.
Most recently, Tang has created a giant installation, "I Heart You," for denim brand Lee, featuring a pair of shopping babies embracing each other. It was on display in a gallery in Beijing's famous art zone 798 last week and the audience was encouraged to sit on the arm of one of the babies, which is covered by thick denim.
"It is a combination of pop art and American comic," Tang says. "Through it I'd like to express a life attitude, encouraging people to show their affection to their loved ones and be passionate whenever they want."
The cute, little fashionista characters, according to her, reflect the deep-rooted consumption culture among Hong Kong's young people.
"Babies have no thoughts of their own but only do things that they are taught to do," she says. "Most young people today are like that - they are fashion victims who shop blindly based on media hype."
She also points out that the color of blue denim she used in the work is very much alike to the blue color in qing hua ci ware.
"Sometimes I'd like to combine both blue-and-white porcelain elements and shopping babies in one work," she explains. "As a young artist, I think it is very important that you find your own style and hold on to it."
Back in 2008, Tang was asked to recreate a pure white Bearbrick, a collectible toy produced by the Japanese company MediCom Toy Inc. She mixed both her trademark shopping baby image and blue-and-white porcelain patterns in the work, and aged it to give it a vintage look. It was auctioned at a charity event for HK$150,000 (US$19,320).
Tang was the first Hong Kong artist to have collaborated with camera manufacturer Lomography on its popular Diana+ model. Featuring an intriguing, aged look, the special edition of the camera that produces dreamlike photography reflects her signature style, mixing vintage elements and blue-and-white porcelain influences. The package also came with four shopping baby-illustrated postcards. It created a sensation among Lomography fans worldwide.
In addition, Tang has worked with renowned brands such as adidas, Kappa and Epson. Last year, she was awarded "Asia's Top Design Talent - 40 Under 40" by Perspective magazine.
"I think it's always win-win for artists to collaborate with fashion brands," she says. "I'm very much into fashion personally, while working with famous brands not only provides financial support but also helps me reach a wider audience."
Now she is designing a blue-and-white porcelain-patterned mooncake case for a Hong Kong bakery house.
Earlier this year, she launched her solo exhibition "Qinghua Pop" at Hong Kong's No Borders Art Gallery. Tang created portraits of eight iconic figures from different ages, including Kate Moss, Sean Connery, Princess Diana and Bruce Lee.
She has aptly added blue-and-white porcelain elements on the portraits: Some appear on the clothes of the characters, others serve as their tattoos or simply as the background.
"One of the most amazing things about blue-and-white porcelain is that it is flexible enough to be matched with other patterns and totems," Tang says. "And they don't really have to be blue and white - I've created gold ones.
"There are hundreds of blue-and-white porcelain patterns, each telling a unique story, which are the source of my infinite inspirations," she adds.
Some of Tang's signature works can also be found in Shanghai's Bridge 8 Creative Park as part of the ongoing exhibition "A Better Tomorrow," a group exhibition organized by the Hong Kong Design Center to introduce the creative works of 50 upcoming Hong Kong-based designers to the city.
Wearing a gray hoodie, a pair of skinny jeans and pink ankle-high sneakers, Dorophy Tang looks more like a girl next door than a promising young artist.
At age 26, the Hong Kong native has made a name for herself for her efforts in reviving the art of qing hua ci, or traditional Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, by blending its exquisite patterns into various art pieces, from oil paintings to furniture.
"I have been collecting and researching blue-and-white porcelain ware since I was in university," says the industrial design graduate from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. "To me, they represent the traditional Chinese understanding of beauty and elegance.
"Meanwhile, I can always see the possibilities to convert them into modern, or even post-modern art pieces, and I want to bring them a new life."
The same is true of her popular "shopping baby" collection, which Tang has created based on the baby images from traditional Chinese lunar calendar. Like the blue-and-white porcelains, the smiling, chubby little kids are featured in many of her works, bringing smiles to the viewers.
Most recently, Tang has created a giant installation, "I Heart You," for denim brand Lee, featuring a pair of shopping babies embracing each other. It was on display in a gallery in Beijing's famous art zone 798 last week and the audience was encouraged to sit on the arm of one of the babies, which is covered by thick denim.
"It is a combination of pop art and American comic," Tang says. "Through it I'd like to express a life attitude, encouraging people to show their affection to their loved ones and be passionate whenever they want."
The cute, little fashionista characters, according to her, reflect the deep-rooted consumption culture among Hong Kong's young people.
"Babies have no thoughts of their own but only do things that they are taught to do," she says. "Most young people today are like that - they are fashion victims who shop blindly based on media hype."
She also points out that the color of blue denim she used in the work is very much alike to the blue color in qing hua ci ware.
"Sometimes I'd like to combine both blue-and-white porcelain elements and shopping babies in one work," she explains. "As a young artist, I think it is very important that you find your own style and hold on to it."
Back in 2008, Tang was asked to recreate a pure white Bearbrick, a collectible toy produced by the Japanese company MediCom Toy Inc. She mixed both her trademark shopping baby image and blue-and-white porcelain patterns in the work, and aged it to give it a vintage look. It was auctioned at a charity event for HK$150,000 (US$19,320).
Tang was the first Hong Kong artist to have collaborated with camera manufacturer Lomography on its popular Diana+ model. Featuring an intriguing, aged look, the special edition of the camera that produces dreamlike photography reflects her signature style, mixing vintage elements and blue-and-white porcelain influences. The package also came with four shopping baby-illustrated postcards. It created a sensation among Lomography fans worldwide.
In addition, Tang has worked with renowned brands such as adidas, Kappa and Epson. Last year, she was awarded "Asia's Top Design Talent - 40 Under 40" by Perspective magazine.
"I think it's always win-win for artists to collaborate with fashion brands," she says. "I'm very much into fashion personally, while working with famous brands not only provides financial support but also helps me reach a wider audience."
Now she is designing a blue-and-white porcelain-patterned mooncake case for a Hong Kong bakery house.
Earlier this year, she launched her solo exhibition "Qinghua Pop" at Hong Kong's No Borders Art Gallery. Tang created portraits of eight iconic figures from different ages, including Kate Moss, Sean Connery, Princess Diana and Bruce Lee.
She has aptly added blue-and-white porcelain elements on the portraits: Some appear on the clothes of the characters, others serve as their tattoos or simply as the background.
"One of the most amazing things about blue-and-white porcelain is that it is flexible enough to be matched with other patterns and totems," Tang says. "And they don't really have to be blue and white - I've created gold ones.
"There are hundreds of blue-and-white porcelain patterns, each telling a unique story, which are the source of my infinite inspirations," she adds.
Some of Tang's signature works can also be found in Shanghai's Bridge 8 Creative Park as part of the ongoing exhibition "A Better Tomorrow," a group exhibition organized by the Hong Kong Design Center to introduce the creative works of 50 upcoming Hong Kong-based designers to the city.
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