MATTHEW
Tsang Man Fu

Four contemporary artists respond to the complexity of bonsai:  Katie Ho (HK), Kay Mei Ling Beadman (UK), Laurence Lee (HK) and Matthew Tsang (HK). Their artworks in Man-made by Nature are not depictions of bonsai but explorations of the diverse concepts contained within the traditional form.

Bonsai might be simply described as a miniaturised tree or scenery in a container. It is this and much more. Bonsai is rooted in Chinese philosophy, literature, art and poetry. It seeks to capture something essential about nature including the human belonging and relationship to the natural world.  It incorporates a worldview of the universe as governed by opposing but complementary forces: void and substance, stasis and dynamism, largeness and smallness of scale, lightness and weight.

Katie Ho works in multi-media installation; utilising humour, found objects, drawing and brilliant colour to make work that is both playful and touching. Kay Mei Ling Beadman explores the complexity of hybrid identity in an interdisciplinary practice that includes painting, text, performativity and installation. Matthew Tsang examines the passage of time and human experience through the processes of change, decay and regeneration, creating sculptural objects and drawings using natural materials. Laurence Lee is a contemporary ink painter who combines traditional and modern techniques to express the solitude of the human condition.