The Unbearable Lightness :
a solo exhibition by SHUM Kwan-yi
《不能承受的輕》沈君怡個人展覽

May 16 - June 4, 2022
at Grotto SKW

Opening Reception:  May 14, 2022 (Sat), 2-6pm
RSVP: info@grottofineart.com
Venue: Grotto SKW – 2/f, East 17, No.17 Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong

Opening hours: 11am - 6pm, Mon – Sat (Closed on Sundays and p.h.)

Artist Statement

Time and time again, we witness life’s distortion and deformation under immense pressure.  Distress and burden have crushed us to the point of collapse.  The mightiness of authority and our insignificance contrast sharply.  We have no choice but to conform.   Any confrontation is futile.  Life appears to suspend in midair as we can hardly find our places and meanings in today’s world.  I am also unassured and incapable of changing the status quo.  Such a bleak future leaves me floating weightlessly in uncertainty; at the same time the weightiness of oppression drags me back to the ground with suffocating pressure. 

The title of the present exhibition, "The Unbearable Lightness", captures my complex emotions of weightlessness and heaviness towards today’s society.  Using contemporary landscape as narrator, the collection is set in three chapters: “The Floating Life”, “The Secret Texts” and “The Inhabitant Islets”.  They chronicle my experiences, dilemma and inner struggle in bearing this invisible weight of lightness. 

Through a series of distressing and despairing scenes, "The Floating Life" embodies the cynical and demoralised attitudes in today's society.  Like a stranded boat in a vast ocean, we are left to battle howling wind and raging waves, while those who choose to flee drift in the boundless sea.  Affixed with silver and copper foils, this series of works symbolises the vicissitudes, bleak, and disturbing external world through the uncontrollable and irresistible nature of oxidisation.

Every period in history has its own forbidden rules and untouchable territories.  We live in a time when we can no longer express our complete thoughts and opinions.  By replacing words with landscape symbols, "The Secret Texts" presents sequences of cryptic signs that are seemingly undecipherable and meaningless.  Such ambiguous rendering brings forth passages of unspoken assumptions and inexpressible ideas otherwise too contentious to convey.

Apart from speech restrictions, behavioral surveillance is as well omnipresent. "The Inhabitant Islets" depicts nineteen deserted islands without ferry access yet under constant tv monitoring.  When even deserted islands are under surveillance, can our privacy and living space be preserved?

我們從歷史中無數次目睹了生命在各種重壓下的扭曲與變形，壓抑的生活和沉重的負擔把我們壓得近乎崩塌；但覺察到世界之蒼茫以及自身的渺小，意識到所有對抗盡終都是徒勞，我們好像只能放棄一切的期待與付出，被動、無奈地接受著一切告知與安排，生命猶如在半空中漂浮，將失去自我定位與尋找自身義意的能力。在這悖繆複雜的時代，我無法釐清這種既輕又重的生存狀態，壓迫的生活讓我感到無比沉重； 但無法重演的過去和無法預定的未來亦同時讓我感到輕不著地，比空氣還輕。

是次展覽以「不能承受的輕」為題，借用「浮生」、「秘文」和「荒島」三個部份，以當代山水畫回應生命中各種輕與重的模糊關係，藉著作品記錄當下浮沉間的各種經歷，以對抗內心輕不著地的無力感。

「浮生」—— 以想像的景觀營造出一幕又一幕既不安又無助的場景，表現壓抑的生活中的各種消極的情緒。對於無法握控的未來，我們就猶如盛載著恐懼與失落的船舶，在洶湧風浪中掙扎與沉淪，或在茫茫大海中漂泊浮沉；而輕而無形的恐懼，則猶如貼上銀銅、箔片的煙雲與流水，隨著與空氣的接觸慢慢變色並發黑，這過程既不能完全控制亦不能完全停止，就猶如變幻不定、黯淡不安的外在世界。

「秘文」—— 每個時代都有著不能明言或不能觸碰的領域，我們難以完整的表達自已想法與情感。是系列以山水符號取代文字，並書寫在各種習字簿或謄文紙上，不斷重複摹寫。這些似乎無法閱讀又看似毫無任何意義的圖像，就猶如輕聲的向觀眾訴說著一段又一段不能直言的故事與心述。

「荒島」—— 描繪了十九個沒有渡輪前往的小島，並以監視螢幕的方式展示；當荒無島嶼可以被攝入鏡頭，這亦同時意味著自由的生活空間消失，各人都在監視底下無處可逃。