Life imitating art:
Hoi Chiu’s sand painting captures a black-faced spoonbill in exacting detail.
Life imitating art:
Hoi Chiu’s sand painting captures a black-faced spoonbill in exacting detail.
Right angles:
Tsing Ma Bridge is a difficult image to re-create, and took the artist many attempts to perfect it.
Right angles:
Tsing Ma Bridge is a difficult image to re-create, and took the artist many attempts to perfect it.
Self starter:
Hoi Chiu taught himself sand-painting by studying another artist online, and created some techniques of his own.
Self starter:
Hoi Chiu taught himself sand-painting by studying another artist online, and created some techniques of his own.
Hand-y craft:
To draw a bird, Hoi Chiu brushes the edge of his palm through the sand repeatedly to leave feather-like impressions.
Hand-y craft:
To draw a bird, Hoi Chiu brushes the edge of his palm through the sand repeatedly to leave feather-like impressions.
Dazzling display:
For Hoi Chiu, the process is paramount, and helps him form a strong bond with the audience.
Dazzling display:
For Hoi Chiu, the process is paramount, and helps him form a strong bond with the audience.
On the road:
Hoi Chiu gave audiences in eight cities in Australia and New Zealand a virtual tour of Hong Kong.
On the road:
Hoi Chiu gave audiences in eight cities in Australia and New Zealand a virtual tour of Hong Kong.
Live art show spotlights HK
March 09, 2014
Handfuls of sand are the latest tool in the Government’s promotional repertoire. Sand painting artist Hoi Chiu expertly scoops, tosses, sweeps, smears and pushes the grains across a lightbox, and moves his fingers through them, in a live-art performance that showcases Hong Kong, Asia’s world city.
His creations on the lightbox are projected onto large screens, accompanied by music, singing, narration and body movements.
Over Chinese New Year, he took his show on an eight-city tour of Australia and New Zealand, giving audiences a virtual Hong Kong tour. They caught glimpses of local landmarks, Victoria Harbour, the MTR, action star Jackie Chan and other highlights. The images were fleeting, but left a lasting impression.
“Sand painting involves a creative process, which stirs the audience’s imagination. People will try to guess what I am drawing, and this stimulates their inner feelings. When they see the outcome, a strong connection is formed between the audience and the performer. That is quite satisfying,” he said.
'Hand'-y work
Hoi Chiu’s “paintbrushes” are his hands, which he uses in many different ways to create effects.
He may spread the sand across the light box and use his fingertips and nails to draw lines or write words, a process he calls ‘dusting’. To create an illusion of depth, he may push the sand from the edges to the centre of the light box. He may also scoop up sand in his hands and toss it onto the light box to ‘draw’ images.
When drawing a bird, Hoi Chiu will brush the bottom edge of his palm through the sand repeatedly to leave feather-like impressions.
He never formally studied creative arts. Before he started his sand-painting performances in 2009, Hoi Chiu had been a dancer, an actor, a puppeteer, and a prop and set designer. Libraries and art galleries are his classrooms, he said. He taught himself sand-painting by studying another artist online, and created some techniques of his own.
Highlights captured
The Information Services Department also invited Hoi Chiu to develop a 15-minute promotional video, Hong Kong Sandscapes. The dazzling montage includes a couple canoodling, iconic structures such as the Tsing Ma Bridge, the giant Buddha on Lantau Island, Victoria Peak and the national geopark, cultural performances such as Cantonese Opera and ballet, and delicious local dishes.
Fast-paced background music sets the tone as the sand-painted images morph into real ones to give audiences a fresh perspective on local life.
Participating in the video project made the artist feel like a tourist as he re-visited his home town - and explored parts of it he had never seen before.
“I discovered I didn’t know my city as well as I thought I did. We may visit the outlying islands for a relaxing getaway, but we also have the national geopark with its amazing landscape - and I had never been there before.”
Lasting impressions
On the day they shot the video, he set up his light box at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza where he would re-create the view of Victoria Harbour.
“When you have been to other cities, you will discover that such a stunning harbour view cannot be found anywhere else. That day, many tourists surrounded me as I performed. I felt that I was representing Hong Kong, introducing this great place to them in a congenial way, showing them my home.”
Of the different facets of the city he created for the video, Hoi Chiu said Tsing Ma Bridge was the most difficult to perfect.
“The sand paintings had to be matched with the real images, but it was not easy to control the angles. The lines of the bridge stays are fine and I had to do it many times over to get it just right,” he said.
“After you finish an eye-catching sand painting, you can only take a photo or a video of it. You can't keep it. But it will leave a lasting impression in my mind, which is what I enjoy most. People often remark that nothing is left once I sweep the sand away at the end of the performance. For me, the result is not important. Whether you enjoy the process is what matters most.”
Watch the Hong Kong Sandscapes video here.
