As people begin to emerge from their homes to enter the new normality of the city, local art gallery Ox Warehouse has launched its second ‘Artist-in-Residence Program’ of the year entitled Wonderland. Two South Korean artists, MJ Lee and Hee Won Maing have produced the works on display, highlighting the every-day landscape of local superstitions and sauna facilities, and reflecting on what effect they have on people’s lives, all seen through the eyes of these two 'outsiders'.
As a foreign artist living in Macau for around four years, MJ Lee is still fascinated by the superstitious behavior of local residents, and the contrast between these beliefs and the opulent image of city’s gaming industry.
“When I was planning this exhibition in the beginning, I immediately thought of the superstitions in Macau. Because the theme is ‘wonderland’, I thought the Chinese God of Earth (Tou Tei) would fit the theme really well,” MJ says.
A number of details in her works are inspired by the local landscape. One of her pieces, The God of Earth represents the image of Macau with colourful LED lights, an illuminated number ‘888’, and a video image of a casino scene embedded in the frame of a small temple.
“When people conjure up the image of the God of Earth, it is simply a red-color and stone-made object, but these elements can represent the image of Macau, like the upper part (of the work) is inspired by the local pawn shops; to me it is very exotic and attractive.”
MJ’s other work in this exhibition features a distinctive concept. It is shrine surrounded by clay Buddha statues roughly decorated with bright colours and shiny stones. At first glance, it appears as though the clay figures are falling apart, eroded by water. Painted in dry, crumbling clay on the wall behind is the large image of a local temple, representing the impermanence of our material desires and possessions.
“As a foreigner, I noticed that wishing for luck and money is a strong culture in Guangdong, and that in a way it is even ‘obsessive’ to me in terms of superstition, because you can find statues everywhere in Macau,” MJ notes. “What I want to say is that the desires that people wish for, physical and material things, are fragile and impermanent. All the things we desire and worship in our life will eventually vanish. Just as people often pray for health, but everyone will die one day. I think we don’t have to be so obsessed with superstition. In my opinion, we don’t need to wish, it’s just (a part of ) nature. We don’t have to fear, we can just accept it.”
The other artist presenting at Wonderland, is Hee Won Maing. Hee Won was visiting MJ in Macau to help her with another art project when she found herself stranded here as a result of the quarantine and travel restrictions back to South Korea. As she explored the city, she also observed a peculiar contrast between its image as a thriving casino city and certain aspects of local culture. In particular, she was intrigued by the sauna facilities in Macau — quite different from the saunas that she is used to in her home country.
“When I first heard about the Macau saunas, I was very shocked. I discovered that there are sometimes as many as 60 girls standing in line to be called on by ‘male-only customers’. Also, the girls have their own number that indicates a different price range. For example, a ‘heart’ is more expensive than a ‘star’,” Hee Won explains. “That system (pay scale) is very interesting to me. I was very interested in the system and wondered how they measure beauty, but I wanted to show it in a sacred way in my work.’
The artist put her feelings and understanding about femininity into her artwork Endless Column, drawing upon elements from ancient Greek statues and nude paintings of the Renaissance period, adding characteristics reflected in Macau’s saunas. The sauna girls in Hee Won’s work are inspired by Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. She drew them as if they were self-portraits, then printed their curvy female forms on thermal paper (the type of paper usually used for receipts), and arranged them in a long line along the wall of the gallery.
“It was interesting to me that Macau saunas are male-only, and it is obviously closely related to the nature of their business operations, because there is a traditional sauna in Korea called Hanjeungmak, but that is a health/medical care facility which is open to everybody,” Hee Won says.
Curator, Fei In Leong, finds the work of both artists very engaging, and believes it’s interesting for local people to reflect on the city’s unusual culture.
“As a local resident, it’s really interesting to see different artists working on the same project with very different approaches. This time we can’t walk past it but have to face it directly and think about our culture,” Leong says. “That’s why we have ‘artist in residency’ at Ox Warehouse. We invite artists from all over the world to join us, and to give us their perspectives on Macau.”
