Everyday over the next few weeks, we will be highlighting the shortlisted artists for The 2022 Sovereign Asian Art Prize – the 18th edition of Asia’s most prestigious prize for contemporary artists. Selected from over 400 entries, the finalists hail from 16 countries and regions across Asia-Pacific. Of the artists, 27 are new to The Prize – appearing in our shortlist for the first time. Read on to discover more about our finalists, their key points of inspiration, and why it is important to champion the work of artists from Asia-Pacific.  

IV Chan (Hong Kong) was shortlisted for her work Another Hangover of Adam, part of a series that focuses on transforming materials into sculptural reinterpretations of anatomical metaphors. It attempts to revisit and reimagine the beauty of corporeality.

How did you go about developing your style?

I have never been conscious about developing a “style” for my work. My concern is more of surprising myself aesthetically and metaphysically. An effective tactic is not using the same methods in solving problems. Unfortunately, or fortunately, no matter how hard I tried, some still insist to repeat. The reoccurrence is either my incapability or “it” turns around and becomes “a style” … something that I am still unsure how to embrace fully.

What relationship does your work have with the space that surrounds it?

The hanging sculpture is definitely seeking some attention in the space. Its physicality swings from pleading guilty to provoking a sense of abjection. The presence of this sculptural representation and reinterpretation shaped by anatomical metaphors, emerges as the foreground for viewers to inspect its vestige and fragility, while requesting for all possible interpretations.   

With the help of the hook and gravity, it is simultaneously suspended above and anchored onto the ground below due to its own weight.  Part of the intention is to enhance a sense of mutilation and bodily disorientation infused by its posture. By and by, it strives or evolves to initiate an eeriness of uncanny within the familiar, not to mention the sacredness in the profane.

What is the significance of biblical references in your work?

The title of the piece, in reference to biblical context, explicitly aims at my strong interest in a specific subject matter– Man’s original sin. Through entitling this sculpture “Another Hangover of Adam”, it can be considered as an effort to elicit a mockery / self-mockery of all “sinners”. The word ‘Another’ connotates the reoccurrence of mortal misdeeds.

That pattern of perpetual sin is a doomed fate, when helplessness of human not only becomes a condemnation of man’s character, it is also a curse of their morals, ethics, ideologies, standards, rules, law, habits and common practices that they have constructed for themselves … probably all out of fear.

How important is it to support the work of artists in Asia-Pacific?

In the past, the term ‘Asia-Pacific Art’ is not a terminology commonly used in the history of art. There were only two categories: art and primitive artifact in the book. Entering the Post-Modern era, pluralism, dualism and minority art emerged as an international concern. Supporting the work of artists in Asia-Pacific becomes a matter of importance since it will help flourish and impel diversity. It also reminds people that artists are not an isolated species. Incorporating creativity besides European and North American can unleash a stronger and better inspired community.

To vote for Chan’s work, click here. The most popular finalist will receive the Public Vote Prize and USD1000.

To register interest in purchasing Chan’s artwork, click here. Artwork sales will be launched in person and online during Art Central, from 26 – 29 May 2022. Proceeds will be spilt equally between the artist and our charitable programmes.

Want to learn about our other finalists? Tune in tomorrow for our next interview. To read previous artists’ interviews, click here.