FION HUNG CHING YAN
THE SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET
82B THE ZHONGSHAN BUILDING
10AM - 6PM
Entry via Tommy Le Baker on ground level
Exploring self-identity through the Chinese familial traditions and moral standards from the former generations through a Western perspective is a key theme in my art practice. In this project, The Skeletons In The Closet, I continue to reflect on my response to a family trauma in 2016, the year of my grandma’s departure. This event has triggered a sense of questioning about my role and gender in family relations.
I have placed my work within a set of Chinese folktales called 24 Paragons of Filial Piety as visual metaphors to elaborate my point. In this work, I perform various bodily gestures in the images to indicate my subversive attitudes towards authority, such as the hidden use of the middle finger and the display of deliberately inappropriate acts. I am also interested in discovering my identity as a female by exposing my naked body in front of the camera- this also constitutes a subversive process.
Using a surrealist approach to the aesthetic of my photo collages, I am looking to create the feeling of a subversive fantasy that would never be possible in real life.
Fion Hung-Ching Yan (b. 1993) studied at Hong Kong Baptist University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Hon) in Visual Arts degree in 2016. She also completed a Master’s degree in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London in 2022. Hung works primarily in photography, image, and text, and presents them in the form of installations and books.
Her photography practice focuses on challenging the way of experiencing daily life and the embodiment of self through traumatic memories by creating invisible realities in her images.
In her recent works ‘To Be Used Someday’, ‘A Month With You’ and ‘The Skeletons In The Closet’, Hung explores self-identity by challenging the stereotypes of Chinese familial morals. ‘To Be Used Someday’ received a WMA Young Talent Award following her BA graduation. ‘The Skeletons In The Closet’ was nominated for the Sproxton Award following her MA graduation. Other works of hers were exhibited internationally, such as in the Chiang Mai Photo Festival 2017 in Thailand, Hong Kong International Photo Festival 2020 in Hong Kong, FORMAT Photo Festival 2020 in Derby, England and Copenhagen Photo Festival 2020 in Denmark.
