Mel Cheong (Cheong Hoi I)
Artist Statement
[日本語下に]
People are special individuals, but capitalism created a nihilistic worldview that only money exists. By participating in this social game, people gradually lose their humane instinct as in pursuing the true happiness in life – making a society that goes in a repeated loop without any breakthrough. Thus, it is important to understand oneself. One can achieve the results from learning and comparing with each other, with people in the history who laid down ideas and visions through art and culture. Through art revelation – the process of appreciation, expression and dissection, Mel found her way to understand herself and exchanging her ideas and visions with people who shares the same moment she does.
These ideas set up as a base for us to make a better and sophisticated self. Mel’s pursuit in questioning the moment allows her to continue in exploring the relationship between herself and her art.
人間はそれぞれが特別な個人でありながら、現代社会では資本主義によりお金の存在に大きく左右される虚無的な世界観が形成されました。このソーシャルゲームに参加することで、人々は人生の真の幸福を追求する人間らしい本能を徐々に失ってしまい、有効な突破口を見出すことなく社会生活は繰り返されていきます。それゆえ、自分自身を理解することが重要になってきます。
人は、芸術と文化を通したアイデアやものの見方を掲げてきた歴史上の人々から学び、互いに比較をすることで成果を得ることができます。評価、表現、概念を解体するプロセスという、芸術による暴露行為を通し、作家は自分自身を理解し、同じ瞬間を共有している人たちと考えや視点を交換しあう方法を見つけたのです。
これらのアイデアは、私たちがより良く洗練された自己を作るための基盤となります。このように作家は現代への疑問を追及することによって、作家と自信の芸術との関係を明らかにし続けることが可能なのです。
About
Mel started as a designer and then shifted to develop herself in art. She won the Artist in Residence Award in the “6th Evora International Printmaking Competition” in 2009 and also held her first solo exhibition “Last Portrait” in the same year.
Mel uses a journalistic view to observe the ever-changing world and compares her surroundings to judge and understand herself. These observations and ideas are expressed in her art. Mel graduated from the University of Macau, majoring in Communications. She is now teaching Mokuhanga Class in Macau.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
- Solo Exhibition “Carving White” Roomage30, Macau
- Solo Exhibition “Carving White” Enlace Gallery,Fukuoka, Japan
- Solo Exhibition “Carving White” CfSHE Gallery,Tokyo, Japan
2014
- Solo Exhibition “A Presence of Mind,” Studio Kura, Fukuoka, Japan
2012
- Solo Exhibition “Circus,” Mount Fortress Corridor, Macau
2011
- Solo Exhibition “My New Life” in the “7th Evora International Printmaking Festival,” Palacio de Manuel, Evora, Portugal
2009
- Solo Exhibition “Last Portrait,” Center for Creative Industries, Macau
AWARDS AND HONORS
2018
- Selected Artist in Residency Airy, Yamanashi, Japan
2017
- Selected Work in the “International Mokuhanga Exhibition 2017,” University of Hawaii, U.S.A.
2014
- Selected Work in the “International Mokuhanga Exhibition 2014,” University of Tokyo, Japan
2012
- Selected Work in the “1st Macau Printmaking Triennial,” Macau Cultural Institute
- Artist in Residence Award in the “2012 Seeking Creators in Aesthetics of Living to Experience the Japanese-Style Houses” program, Gold Museum, New Taipei City Government, Taiwan
2009
- Artist in Residence Award in the “6th Evora International Printmaking Competition,” Teoartis, Evora, Portugal
2005
- Consolation Prize in the “Happiness Bag” Graphic Design Competition, Caritas Macau
2004
- Third Prize in the “Humorous Macao” Photography Competition, University of Macau
RELATED NEWS AND ARTICLES
- Project “Tip-Tip,Plop-Plop” at Yamanashi (2018)
- Opening of “A Presence of Mind” Exhibition in Fukuoka (2014)
- Macau Artists Participating in Tokyo’s International Mokuhanga Exhibition (2014)
- Macau DSE: “Copyright Law Promotion Video” (2011)