The Collector | Doris Wong’s solo show is an exercise in rebirth and self-control
Parenthood may have stalled the Hong Kong artist’s creative output but becoming a mother was the driving force behind ‘Without Trying’, her first exhibition in five years
Doris Wong Wai-yin has long collaborated on art performances, installations and videos with her husband, Kwan Sheung-chi. Since the birth of their son, however, Wong has been quiet, artistically. “Without Trying” is a breakout exhibition, her first solo showing in five years, and features 15 works, all created this year.
This is a deft show and introduces, with humour and gentle commentary, a serious aspect to why the exhibition has been delayed: her anxiety attacks and hesitation to work on her art.
Creative people, visual artists – and writers, actors, musicians, composers and so on – need to produce original ideas in their work. Australian writer Gerald Murnane explains that this endeavour is often “filled with failed beginnings, wrong turnings and abandoned drafts, and elaborate plans that came to nothing”. For many artists, the pressures of creativity lead to feelings of inadequacy and even incapacitation.
In a corner of the exhibition, at gallery Spring Workshop, sits a rack holding a set of watercolours in clear plastic sleeves. The installation informs viewers of the adages Wong uses to help keep her motivated and strong: “be ambitious”; “don’t compete with others”; “throw away the bad works”; “use the right tools”; “protect yourself”; “don’t be naive”; and “celebrate nothing”.
