In Dialogue with Nature

Fung Chim, Costanza Gastaldi

20 Oct –  18 Nov 2023

Curatorial text: Charmaine Tam

Novalis Art Design

G/F, 197 Hollywood Road, Hong Kong

In Dialogue with Nature
Charmaine Tam

Art Next and Novalis Art Design jointly present ‘In Dialogue with Nature,’ a duo exhibition of Hong Kong painter Fung Chim and Italian photographer Costanza Gastaldi. Here, Fung Chim spotlights the often overlooked nature that we see every day within the city, while Costanza Gastaldi takes the viewer on a journey deep into the forest full of mystery.

Fung Chim is an astute observer of the Hong Kong urban landscape he resides in, especially the spatial interaction between the artificial architecture and the trees that decorate the urban spaces. His works highlight elements of beauty that exist within the familiar landscape that we might walk past every day but fail to notice. He chooses to forgo the depth from conventional western perspective. Instead of creating a space viewers can project themselves into, this foregrounds the pattern that is formed by the foliage of trees, sometimes contrasted with tiled walls, so that each element has equal presence and is not overlooked. In his works, every individual element is depicted in meticulous detail, each leave, flower petal, branch and tile are rendered with the same precision. In Orchid Tree, the detail in the tiled wall in the background is such that you can see the cracks within the tiny square tiles, how sections of the wall have faded in colour, and even faint shadows in indentations where tiles have fallen off. Though no humans are depicted in his paintings, it is in such details of wear and tear that indicate the human history within the urban fabric. In his other paintings within this exhibition, Fung Chim focuses on the trees themselves and leaves the background white, letting the viewer admire the complexity and different characteristics of different trees. Sunshinetree, Common Red Stem, Indian Almond are all common trees that we see dotted amongst boulevards and green spaces within Hong Kong. It is something we might see walking past our neighbourhood every day and yet how many of us have bothered to notice their names and individual character? With his signature style, Fung Chim brings the beauty of the neglected everyday nature around us and we are inspired to look more closely for moments of beauty in the mundane.

Costanza Gastaldi’s series Sylvan Reliquary takes the viewer into a lush verdant scenery meeting halfway between the fantasized landscapes and the one journeyed in. In such a quest for the existential, the wandering of the artist puts forward on one hand the archetype of creation and death and on another, melancholia. Through her work, the viewer can freely lose themselves in the mysterious forest that she presents: ‘The light falls. The Silent Forest is full of emotions… Protected by the darkness, the ‘treebodies’ take cramped positions. Halfway between the craft of suffering and positions of love, they mingle, intertwine, overlap to finally unite as if in an aid to resistance. In this marvellous intrigue, in this abandonment, emerges the will to mix, this pursuit for exchange, that keeps persisting despite the reality of finitude.’ Costanza Gastaldi explores “our own sentimental geography”. Between darkness and light, she sculpts with prowess the landscapes of the mind’s spirit. Daydreams and reality converse and highlight the complexities of our emotions. The viewer is sucked into the depth by the deep darkness in each frame and finds themselves bewitched by the natural world teeming with details. The smoky nuances entice us and transform the artworks into true objects of desire. It is in a vast grayscale field of the noble black that the most significant elements in her craft materialize. Her work not only pushes us into self-reflection but also opens vast trails of exploration around broad subjects on aesthetics, politics and metaphysics linked to the relationship that man has with nature.

 

與自然的對話
譚天琦

新藝潮與諾瓦利斯藝術設計畫廊聯合呈獻「與自然的對話」,這是香港藝 術家風漸與義大利攝影師科斯坦紮·加斯塔爾迪(Costanza Gastaldi)的 雙人展。風漸突顯了我們每天在城市中看到往往被忽視的大自然,而科斯 坦紮·加斯塔爾迪則帶領觀眾進入充滿神秘色彩的森林深處。

風漸對他所居住的香港城市景觀有著敏銳的觀察力,尤其是人工建築與裝 飾城市空間的樹木之間的空間互動。他的作品突出了存在於我們熟悉的景 觀中的美麗元素,這些元素可能是我們每天走過卻沒有註意到的。他選擇 捨棄傳統西方透視的深度,不再創造一個觀眾可以投射到其中的空間,而 是突出樹葉有時與瓷磚牆形成對比的圖案。這樣每個元素都有同等的存在 感,而不會被忽視。在他的作品中,每一個元素都刻畫得細緻入微,每一 片樹葉、每一片花瓣、每一根樹枝、每一片瓦片都呈現得同樣精確。在 《Orchid Tree》中,背景磁磚牆的細節可以讓你看到小方磚上的裂縫, 看到牆面上顏色褪去的部分,甚至在磁磚脫落的凹陷處還能看到模糊的影 子。雖然他的畫作中沒有描繪人類,但正是這些磨損的細節顯示了城市結 構中的人類歷史。在本次展覽的其他畫作中,風漸將重點放在樹木本身, 背景留白,讓觀者欣賞不同樹木的複雜性和不同特徵。《Sunshinetree》 、《Common Red Stem》、《Indian Almond》,這些都是香港林蔭大 道和綠地中常見的樹木。我們每天走過社區都會看到這些樹木,但又有多 少人注意到它們的名字和個性呢?風漸以其獨特的風格,將我們身邊被忽 視的日常自然之美展現出來,啟發我們更仔細地觀察平凡中的美麗時刻。

科斯坦紮·加斯塔爾迪的《森林聖骨》(Sylvan Reliquary)系列把觀眾 帶進交匯於來自幻想以及真實旅行中的景觀之間鬱鬱蔥蔥的風景。在這種 對存在主義的追尋中,藝術家的流浪不僅展示了創造與死亡的原型,還呈 現了一種黯然憂傷。通過她的作品,觀眾可以自由地迷失在她所呈現的神 秘森林中:「天漸暗。寂靜的森林充滿了情緒……在黑暗的保護下,『樹 體』佔據了狹窄的位置。在折磨與愛之間,它們相互交融,交織,重疊, 彷彿是為了抵抗而團結在一起。在奇妙的勾心鬥角中,在遺棄中,促成了 混合的意志。儘管現實是有限的,這種對交換的追求仍然持續不斷。」 科斯坦紮·加斯塔爾迪探索了「我們自身的情感地理」。在黑暗與光明之 間,她以精湛的技藝雕刻出心靈的風景。夢境和現實相互轉化,突出了我 們情緒的複雜性。觀眾被每一幀畫面中深邃的黑暗所吸引,被充滿細節的 自然世界所迷惑。煙霧般的細微差異引人入勝,將作品轉化爲真正渴望的 對象。她工藝中最重要的元素正是通過在宏偉黑色的廣闊灰度領域中得以 實現。她的作品不僅推動我們進行自我反思,還圍繞著人類與自然關係的 美學,政治和形而上學的廣泛主題,開闢了廣闊的探索之路。

SELECTED WORKS