Arts Preview: Mak Ying-tung uses balloons to highlight her colourful intent
Artist Mak Ying-tung is certain that, had she opted for a conventional art education, she wouldn't be creating the kind of provocative work that is now earning her attention in the local art scene.
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Artist Mak Ying-tung is certain that, had she opted for a conventional art education, she wouldn't be creating the kind of provocative work that is now earning her attention in the local art scene.
"I loved theatre as a teenager, but I have never been an arts person. After my A-levels, I applied for City University's School of Creative Media [SCM] because I heard its admission rate was almost 100 per cent," says Mak.
"The four years of study have been liberating — they changed my mentality. I used to think art was all about oil paintings and canvases, but SCM introduced to me the world of interactive art and new media art."
The artist adds that she was blown away by a lecture about the work of Japanese photographer Araki Nobuyoshi in her first year; that, and the introductory course to contemporary art "literally flipped the way I view art", she says.
Her studio in Fo Tan is quite chaotic, but Mak says it's the finished product that counts. "Artists who have an immaculate studio are lazy. They're not working as hard as I am," she says, laughing. Mak graduated last year, and the candid 24-year-old already has a few interesting works under her belt.