Visual Arts

“No man is an island entire of itself; … And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
— 17th century English poet John Donne

Uneven pavements are ubiquitous in the city: bricks were dug out and potholes hastily filled. Homogeneous streets resemble the surface of a soap bubble—iridescent yet vulnerable. Chan Yi Ting’s first solo exhibition “Asphalt Island” showcases a series of screenprints she recently created. The artist uses photography to capture traces of protests on streets, and subsequently prints the images layer by layer in soft, pastel tones, conjuring dreamlike scenes based on reality. Through constantly experimenting with different colours and fine-tuning the images, she revisits and reconsiders moments she documented again and again. Slowly and invisibly, the weight of images wears away the emotions she has suppressed for far too long.

The bell is tolling for this city—it is tolling for us. If we can no longer describe our memories in words, let us integrate mourning into daily life, and protect the fading scars of this city with our imagination. Not even cement or asphalt can conceal the sound of rubbles, as we leave one footprint after another in the gravel pile under our feet.