Campus Digest

Two Visual Arts alumni win international awards

11 Feb 2014

Miss Jovial Yeung and Miss Sara Chan, two alumni of the Academy of Visual Arts, won two international awards in their fields of expertise recently. Miss Yeung was presented with an Honourable Mention in the 2014 Emerging Artists category by the Glass Art Society in the United States for her work Self Defence.

Describing the concept behind her creation, Miss Yeung said: “Self defence is instinctive. Nobody can prohibit or control it.” The image on canvas was created by poking extremely delicate glass threads through the canvas, an innovative technique of using glass as a medium. Although the glass threads look sharp and dangerous, they are very fragile. The big contrast between the medium used and the body language of the figure of the woman implies a psychological state: she appears to be on the offense, yet she is actually as fragile as hairy glass threads.

Meanwhile, Sara Chan won Young Designers (under 30) award in the Diamanti Per Tutti Diamond Accessory Design Competition. Miss Chan’s work entitled Ear Cuff is an earring without auricular needling (hole-less). Anyone can wear the earring, whether or not their ears are pierced.

Elaborating on her creative concept, Miss Chan said, “In general, balance is the equilibrium of interaction between two sides of strength, under static conditions. Balance is unstable, destroyed when there is a shift of power between two sides. The contradiction is that there is no absolute balance in the world, as there is no absolute static state in reality. What we are really referring to is the definition of balance, which is always relative – ‘relatively balance’. Therefore, I studied the balance and imbalance of human body parts and visualised it through jewellery.

Miss Chan’s artwork was exhibited during the Business of Design Week 2013. It will also be on sale in the market soon.