Peony yip biography
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Art Projects Gallery is delighted to present Hong Kong artist Peony Yip’s debut solo exhibition titled “Transformation”. Peony is inspired by the notion of continuous change - fascinated not only by the end result of metamorphosis but also in the process of the transformation. In this solo exhibition, she explores the relationship between humans and nature and puts forward her vision of the transformation from former to the latter.
Imagining a world where human goes through an evolutionary process to finally become a part of nature, Peony’s “Transformation” series portray the different stages of a girl’s transformation back to nature as a butterfly, symbolic of people being reborn and at one with nature again.
In the “Transformation Zodiac” series, Peony portrays insects (as a representation of nature) transformed into the twelve Zodiac beings, all fully evolved with their ubiquitous physical attributes and characteristics.
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Artist Statement:
The series portrays the inevitability of change. Humanity’s idea of death is simply another part of the process that we call life. Death is no more to be feared than Birth, Love or Growth. Although the fear of Death has been at the root of all of our great discoveries and accomplishments, what is sometimes forgotten is that discovery itself is not as important as what is done with what is discovered. Through discoveries I believe we humans have taken greatly from what belongs to the Earth and I would love to live a world where we can be rebirthed back into nature itself.
Transformation
About the artist
Peony Yip was born in Jamaica in 1990 where she lived for 14 years before moving back to Hong Kong in 2005. She graduated from the Hong Kong Design Institute with a Higher Diploma in Graphic Information Design in 2010 and has participated in various group exhibitions since 2012 before her current debut solo exhibition at Art Projects Gallery.
About Yip is a young artist living in Hong Kong. She is inspired by animals and calls herself “The White Deer” as this is her favourite animal and colour. She says “With animals, everything is just one way. They’re born, they grow, they prey and they breed, which is everything so naturally done. That’s why I like tying them to my drawings, kind of a reminder or a statement.” Her name “The White Deer” links to the drawings she does, like her drawings she is a human with an animal linked to her. To link this to me I could do drawings of my friends and draw the animal they relate to on top in Yip’s style. Yip’s work does not have individual names but instead she names the by series; this series is called Wildlife. In this series, Yip draws a human face in graphite and then draws an animal face over the top in red coloured pencil.She draws the animal and human in the same sort of position which makes them both look similar. This made me think about looking at spirit animals as the humans look like they could be transforming into the. In the drawing to the right, both the wolf and the girl are looking to the left and slightly up which makes the girl look as if she is howling with the wolf. The wolf is in red which makes it stand out more compared to the grey drawing. This makes me think that the animal is the more important part of the composition. Yip also seems to think this; “they make up for the stupid things that humans do. I know I’m being too forward but humans always find a way to bring stupidity to another level.”. For this series, Yip quotes Jim fowler “The quicker we humans learn that saving open space and wildlife is critical to our welfare and quality of life, maybe we'll start thinking of doing something about it.” Which suggests that this series is all about how we need to think about working with animals and saving them instead of working against animal 1990 Born in Jamaica, currently resides in Hong Kong I was born and raised in Jamaica as my parents moved there a long time ago before I was born. In 2005, my parents brought me back to their home, Hong Kong, and I have lived here since. To describe my childhood, it was mostly being raised in a quite traditional Chinese family with the occasional touch of Jamaican lifestyle. It surprises me how many people I have forgotten and memories that I had in my past as they were mostly unpleasant. But all those unpleasant things have made me learn more about myself and hopefully grow into a better person. Moving to Hong Kong made a huge impact on my life and it has helped me build my path as an artist. Though, it has proven to be very difficult, I haven’t given up yet. Hong Kong is a very busy city. Actually very busy is an understatement. I think if I could, I would go on pages long to describe the city but to be short, it has its beauty and its disadvantages. I think it’s different for everyone. Hong Kong is many things, with that being said it offers many varieties whether it is the food, cultures, career paths, education etc. It seems like whatever you need to find, there is a possibility this city has it, as long as you look hard for it. For me, living in Hong Kong is quite stressful. Everything is so expensive and it is sad to be so limited. I wish I could be more positive about this city but it’s really becoming more difficult. It seems like whatever you need to find, there is a possibility this city has it, as long as you look hard for it. BEST: Convenience To elaborate, it is true that I do find that the convenience of Hong Kong super fantastic. Transportation is great and with many options for such a small city. You need to buy a variety of
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
2010 HIgher Diploma in Graphic Information Design, Hong Kong Design Institute
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 《蛻變》Transformation, Art Projects Gallery, Hong Kong
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014 "Allow Me To Introduce Myself...", Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, USA
"Out Of Body.", Gauntlet Gallery, San Francisco, USA
"Twice Told Tales", Flower Pepper Gallery, Pasadena, USA
Art Projects Gallery x 1600 Panda World Tour, Art Projects Gallery, Hong Kong
2012 "Girls: Fact or Fiction", Light Grey Art Lab, Minneapolis, USAMeet artist and illustrator from Hong Kong, Peony Yip.
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