British artist Emily Allchurch’s (b. 1974) digital photographic collages draw inspiration from Old Master paintings and prints that offer a social commentary on their times. Recent works in her new ‘Trading Places’ series, such as Mirrored Cities I find their creative roots in Renaissance Venetian art and Chinese court painting, as well as literary influences such as Italo Calvino’s fictitious travel account Invisible Cities (1972).

The works of Macau artist Eric Fok (b.1990) are a unique blend of tradition and modernity. Using a technical pen and tea-dyed paper, he integrates ancient maps with modern constructions. With focal themes such as the Age of Exploration, colonisation and globalisation, the greatest surprise in experiencing Fok’s paintings lies in the way various historical eras amalgamate into a single work.

Fusing traditional Chinese ink painting with contemporary Pop Art elements, harmony is the overriding theme of Chinese ink artist Li Ting Ting (b. 1982). Be it a violin, a crown or a solitary individual communing with nature, the focus in her signature still-lives and landscapes is on emotions of restfulness, tranquility, equilibrium and joy.

Hong Kong ceramicist Rosanna Li Wei Han is known for her whimsical clay works of people going about their daily affairs. Her robust ceramic figures have a certain rustic charm. Depicting the sense of contentment and vitality of simple folk, her works are often filled with wit and humour, reflecting her keen observation and sensitivity to people and events in the community.

Another Hong Kong ceramic artist, Annie Wan Lai Kuen (b.1961) takes as her subject matter everyday items and transforms them into timeless objects imbued with meaning.  Wan’s practice engages with the materialisation of history, time, memory and illusion. For her book pieces, page after page of a work is covered in ceramic slip and then fired at a temperature of over one thousand degrees. Paper pages of the original book turn into ash as each page transforms into thin and delicate pieces of ceramics, almost like a fossil of itself.