The Monster

2 - 30 March 2024

Independently organized exhibition in Hong Kong

The collection envisions a traumatised, diminutive creature, the protagonist, who becomes ensnared within his own imaginative realm. As psychological dioramas, the artworks project a series of unsettling scenes within the creature’s mind.

“The Monster” is a mini-exhibition held at Yrellag Gallery, which showcases Claire Lee’s “monster,” which has been crafted from a diverse range of repurposed materials. The monster embodies both internal and external pain and suffering. In this chaotic world, it has constructed for itself an imaginary sanctuary for contemplation. Claire Lee was drawn to the allure of ruins and rites. Tactile and fragile, these previously lost or discarded objects resemble orphaned entities to her. She endeavoured to reassemble these “fragile fragments.”

These works, created between 2020 and 2023, propose an “aesthetic inquiry” in times of individual and collective anguish, set against the backdrop of global conflicts and personal insecurities. The culmination of this intimate three-year artistic and personal journey, which immersed her in materials, is the site-specific installation curated by the artist. It comprises dioramas, objects, paintings, and photo prints. Additionally, selected prose written by Claire during the period is interwoven into the ritualistic presentation.

「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。」

「怪物」是在Yrellag畫廊舉辦的小型展覽。從各種重新演繹的物料中出現，「怪物」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。

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。還有李氏撰寫的文字將在祭祀儀式般的場景中散落呈現。

SELECTED ARTWORKS

Bodily expression of emotion

In addition to exploring everyday surrounding objects such as wooden boxes, paper, textiles, and ceramics, Claire Lee also perceives body movements as integral components of her artistic expression. She captured video footage of her body movements and postures, contemplating her mental state as she created. In her text, she cited emotive body expression as a source of inspiration: “Although I am not a dancer, I sought to explore my body language, almost as if mourning the loss of identities of cherished objects.” Subsequently, she incorporated some of these dance movements into the dioramas she crafted, ultimately culminating in a series of theatrical imageries on digital prints.

除了探索日常周邊的物件，如木盒、紙、紡織品和陶瓷，她也將身體動作視為作品「materials」的一部分。Claire Lee 嘗試拍攝一些她的身體動作和姿勢，在過程中思考她在創作背後的心理狀態。她在文字紀錄中提到以 Body Language 作為靈感：「我不是舞者，但我想探索我的肢體語言，就像為我們所珍惜的事物失去身分而悲傷一樣。」後來，她將其中一些舞蹈動作融入立體物料中，最終形成了一系列迷你舞台佈景的影像作品。

SELECTED ARTWORKS - Photo Prints

All images courtesy of the artist. Interview courtesy of RTHK, Yrellag Gallery and the artist.