The Monster

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦. 𝘈𝘴 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.”

“The Monster” is the first solo exhibition featuring Claire Lee’s latest works, since the artist moved back to Hong Kong after 8 years living in the UK. The “monster” emerged from a variety of repurposed materials, witnessing pain and suffering within himself and others. In this chaotic world, he has created for himself an imaginary sanctuary for contemplation.

“𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭?”, Claire pondered. Tactile and fragile, things previously lost or discarded, to Claire are almost like orphaned objects, and she tried to put these “broken pieces” back together.

While living in the UK, Claire has taken pleasure absorbing all aspects of aesthetics in ballet theatres and scenic designs. The dreamy stage sets and costumes consoled her with a great sense of spiritual comfort during the covid pandemic years in which time she also had personal experience in a medical operating theatre. These latest works created between 2020 and 2023 propose an “aesthetic inquiry” in times of individual and collective anguish against the backdrop of global conflicts and personal insecurities.

Resulting from this intimate 3-year artistic and personal journey immersing herself in materials, the site-specific installation curated by the artist is composed of dioramas, objects, paintings and photo prints. There are also selected poems and prose written by Claire during the period which will flow through the ritualistic presentation.

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The exhibition opening will be held on Sunday, 2 March 2024 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and will be on view from 2 March until 30 March 2024. The artist will be present during the opening.

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「這作品系列幻想一個受創的小怪物，被帶到其想像之境地。就像一個心理小劇場，在其腦海中投放出一幕幕令人縈繞於心的場景。」

藝術家李美蓮在英國生活 8 年後返港以來的首次個展。「怪物」從各種重新演繹的物料中出現，見證自身和他人內心的痛苦和苦難。在混沌的世界裏為自己創造了一個想像中的思緒避風港。

「為什麼我們被廢墟和祭祀儀式所吸引?」李氏反思着。

《怪。物》之「物」亦有物料之意。觸感和脆弱，曾遭遺失或丟棄的物件，於李氏，這些東西幾乎就如孤零之物。她試圖將這些破碎的碎片重新組合在一起。

居英生活期間，李氏沉迷於吸收芭蕾舞戲劇佈景的美學。夢幻般的舞臺佈景和服裝在新冠疫情期間給她帶來了極大的精神安撫，當時她自身亦經驗了手術室裏的「舞臺」。這些 2020 年至 2023 年間的最新作品提出「美學探究」，置身於環球衝突和個人不安全感的脈落中，以及其衍生的個人和集體之痛。

這個由藝術家策劃的場域特定裝置由立體場景、物件、繪畫和照片印刷組成，是她三年間親近地沉浸在物料探索的藝術和個人歷程的結果。還有李氏在此期間撰寫的詩歌和散文將在祭祀儀式般的場景中散落呈現。

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本展將於 2024 年 3 月 2 日（星期六）下午 5 時至晚上 8 時舉行開幕酒會，屆時藝術家將親臨現場，展期由 2024 年 3月 2 日至3 月 30 日。