Meditating Back and Forth
Solo exhibition of local artist Tong Chong at St. Paul’s Fine Art
Heading towards the end of March, spring dropped onto the canvas a shade of water. The child of the artist cried, “Papa, what to do?”. He smiled, and took his brush. “Don’t worry my child, with this as my paddle we would sail. Bring along your favourite pet, so that you won’t forget.”
Rowing and rowing the artist won’t let go, the brush in his hand as his paddle. Through the fog of his own memories he sailed, from street to street and scene after scene, back and forth, far away from the shore…
At the age of 13, Tong Chong stopped going to school. Seeing that his child was having trouble following teachings in Cantonese due to his mother tongue of Fujian, Tong Chong’s father decided to send him to learn how to become a baker in a local cake shop. “A man should be equipped with a skill,” he would say. And if words are not among his talents, then maybe he can find another way to express. A major decision was made; apart from being an apprentice in the bakery shop, Tong Chong was sent to learn painting with Mio Pang Fei.
“The impact was profound,” Tong Chong recalls. “What I have learnt from my teacher was not a formal style of how to paint, but the way
to think about art.” By introducing him to the History of Art, Mr Mio Pang Fei inspired Tong Chong with different artistic concepts. And among them he has developed his preference for primitive symbols that can be found in ancient Chinese tortoise inscription and in the 70’s and the 80’s New York graffiti movement. “Symbols are originally created to express men’s feelings. But later they have been developed into words that always come with a whole set of rules. In primitive symbols I found an ease of freedom that words cannot offer.”
For his latest solo exhibition “Back and Forth”, Tong Chong has displayed a series of very recent paintings. “This exhibition shows two different periods of my work. Back and forth, I want to examine the transformation that is taking place.” While we can see in the paintings the artist’s usual style of primitive symbols, we also see a tendency to further simplicity. Primitive signs are developed into more recognisable child-like figures. But at the same time the usual sophisticated treatment of
plane has been drastically reduced, so that a scenario can take place. Chaos, as the primitive state of the universe is now transformed into a distinctive world of existence. In this world, Tong Chong would describe himself as a boat man. “The journey started when I left my teacher, when I have to search on my own. It is as if I am on a boat in the middle of the sea. And the shore, is me.”
