Parallel Space is delighted to present the new exhibition "Focused Tranquility," the debut solo exhibition of local female artist Chan Oi Ying. Chan integrates the foundation of traditional Chinese calligraphy with Japanese Shodo techniques, drawing materials from local culture to create her own aesthetic as an artist. Chan Oi Ying, who has been engaged in Chinese calligraphy for ten years and has collaborated with various entities, including the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Actress Karen Mok, and the online creative team "Trial & Error,". 

Her works were collected privately in recent years, including collector Mr.TK ( boss of Milk magazine ) This exhibition summarizes Chan's calligraphy over the past ten years, displaying nearly 60 works that not only demonstrate the artist's solid skills in traditional Chinese calligraphy but also showcase her interpretation of contemporary calligraphy through innovative experiments with "paper, brush, ink."

"Focused Tranquility" refers to the artist's silence before writing, filtering chaotic thoughts before putting pen to paper, a state akin to meditation. For Chan, calligraphy is a practice in a turbulent world, and her works also contain her views on Buddhism. The exhibition starts with 21 works on oil painting boards of "Weak Water Three Thousand," where the artist blends her understanding of Japanese and traditional calligraphy, allowing the ink to be either rich or dry. The exhibition also features a four-meter long work "Cherry Blossom Snowstorm," which demonstrates a similar ingenious approach.

To further showcase Chan's practice, the exhibition's second layer displays "Heart Sutra," written in various styles like regular script, seal script, and cursive script, revealing the artist's solid fundamentals and her tranquility in a chaotic world. The most precious aspect is the fact that Chan is neither world-weary nor is she isolated from the world, as seen from her collaborations with various pop culture icons. For example, the exhibition includes "Completed Work" which is a work initiated by a dialogue with Hui Yin from "Trial & error". Despite Heart Sutra, the artist "tried" to use different methods to break free from the constraints of neatness, writing different fonts on the same plane, and choosing to create on collage paper.

The exhibition presents three creative aspects of Chan Oi Ying’s calligraphy-based art: 

1. Modern innovation,  2. Connecting with local Hong Kong culture, and 3. Traditional scripts. The gallery, located near public streets, deliberately approaches the public, aiming to further promote calligraphy and Chan Oi Ying’s artistic aesthetics to the public.

About the Artist…

Chan Oi Ying graduated from the Fine Arts Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, majoring in calligraphy, under the guidance of Professor Tong Kam Tang. 

Currently a Chinese calligraphy artist and private calligraphy tutor, Chan also studies Japanese calligraphy under Japanese calligrapher Amano Heison. 

Chan's creative philosophy is influenced by Sun Guo Ting's statement in the Tang Dynasty calligraphy book "Shupu": "Not deviating from the ancient times nor the present era's faults," aiming to inherit traditional practices while embracing modern trends. Chan's works have collaborated with local arts and culture institutions, media, and renowned international brands, including Radio Television Hong Kong, Hong Kong Palace Museum, online creative team "Trial and Error," etc.

https://www.instagram.com/chanoiying/

Parallel Space欣然呈現全新展覽《凝神靜慮》，為本地女藝術家陳靄凝的首次個人作品展，展覽正式於11月18日開幕，為期三星期。

陳靄凝揉合中國傳統的書法基礎和日本書道技法，並從本地文化提取素材創作，自成一套藝術家的美學。她的日本書道老師天野碧邨老師評價：「靄凝以自由的想像力和對書法美感的敏銳觸覺，創造了屬於當下的書法風貌。」從事書法創作十年的陳靄凝曾與不同領域的單位合作, 包括 : 香港故宮文化博物館、藝人莫文蔚、網絡創意團隊「試當真」等，近年開始, 作品被私人收藏。陳靄凝在這次展覽總結過去十年的書法創作，展覽近60份作品不只展露著藝術家在傳統書法上的紮實功力，更以書法的基本造詣，通過對「紙、筆、墨」的創新實驗來展示她對當代書法的演繹。

「凝神靜慮」指的是藝術家每次執筆寫字前的沈默，先把雜亂的思緒過濾好才下筆。對於陳靄凝來說，書法就是一場於亂世中的修行，作品也埋藏了藝術家對佛學相關的看法。「靄凝是次的展覽正好展示了她在傳統書法和現代書法的創作成果。（…）作品在主題性方面，以至在展場的設計佈置和装被形式上，均有刻意的經營，使展覽本身構成了一件藝術創作，符合現代展覽策展的特性。」本地著名書法藝術家唐錦騰教授寫道。展覽以21張於油畫板上寫成的〈弱水三千〉展開，藝術家融合她對日本書法與傳統書法的理解，讓墨色飽潤或乾涸的狀態也份外具體，一氣呵成的行草豪邁而不拖泥帶水。整篇以填詞人林夕為歌手麥浚龍寫成的廣東流行曲歌詞化成一幅壯觀而充滿氣勢的大畫。展覽另一幅長達四米的作品〈櫻吹雪〉也帶異曲同工之妙。進一步展現陳靄凝的修行，便要數展覽第二層所展出的〈心經〉，分別以楷書、篆書、草書等寫成的心經除了顯示了藝術家紮實的基本功外，更加察見藝術家於亂世中的安靜。而最可貴的是，靄凝並不厭世，不以與世隔絕的姿態創作，又同時與流行文化的人物合作，以自身角度參與流行文化。展覽裡〈完成作品〉便是一例，靄凝通過與「試當真」許賢的對話開始作品的創作。同樣是心經，藝術家卻同時「試」不同的方法來擺脫工整的枷鎖：在同一平面上寫上不同字體、又選擇於拼貼紙上創作。

「從小就被一些精簡同時又變化豐富的事物觸動，例如《美少女戰士》的服裝設計，不複雜但各具特色，色彩和設計協調得剛剛好，而書法的本質— 精簡而又多樣性，令我長大後可透過寫書法重複這種體驗，內心深處得到愉悅和感動。」藝術家如此總結自己跟書法的關係。是次展覽呈現陳靄凝以書法為本的三個創作面向 : 1.現代創新 2.連結香港本地文化 及 3. 傳統書體，選址連接公共街道的Parallel Space，刻意走近大眾，希望將書法及陳靄凝自身的藝術美學，進一步向公眾推廣 。同場推出陳靄凝作品集《凝神靜慮》 , 收錄展覽中所有作品。

陳靄凝畢業於香港中文大學藝術系，主修書法，蒙唐錦騰教授指導。

現為書法藝術家及私人書法導師，並跟從日本書法家天野碧邨先生學習日本書道。

陳氏創作思想受唐代書法家孫過庭《書譜》中一句「古不乖時，今不同弊」影響，作品既能繼承歷代傳統，又不背離時代潮流；既能追求當今風尚，又不混同他人的弊俗，主張傳統與創新並行。陳氏作品曾與本地藝術文化機構、媒體及知名國際品牌合作，包括香港電台, 香港故宮文化博物館、試當真等。