Painter Circle Lo
Circle Lo is a painter, sculptor and Jockey Club artist/institution. He travels to sports events around the world, painting everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to Kim Clijsters to Silent Witness. We catch up with him as he recovers from the Australian Open.
HK Magazine: Your name, Circle, is unusual.
Circle Lo: My Chinese name is Lo Yuen. “Yuen” means “Origin,” but sounds the same as “Circle”. I went to a Buddhist school, and I like the idea of circularity and things not having a beginning and end. I played in the reserve league for the HK Rangers, and my coach told me to get an English name, so I said, “Call me Circle.”
HK: Who’s the most famous person you’ve painted?
CL: Oh, lots of people - Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, the Queen. She was very graceful - I followed her around for a day at the Australian bicentenary celebrations in 1988. I did a lot of artwork then, it was a prime time of creativity for me. Then there are all the footballers - I was at Samuel Eto’o’s wedding. But the most exciting thing for me was meeting Ronaldinho. That was really great. He came over and shook my hand in the middle of the game when he saw me drawing him.
HK: What do you think of the furore over the Danish cartoons of Mohammed?
CL: I think it highlights the power of a subtle medium. When I was a child, I was part of the Red Guard, and we were taught the importance of the two most powerful rods in the world: the pen and the gun barrel. They always seized control of these, and so seized control of everything. I studied sociology at university, and in my third year we did “the elite and the powerful.” It was fascinating, and it’s why I do what I do: I do it for fun, and also to meet the powerful, the high class, the elite. Power in its many forms - hereditary, professional, athletic - every elite.
HK: What is the best event you've been to?
CL: Oh, every one of them. Especially the big ones: Ascot, Longchamps, the Kentucky Derby... the weather’s always good. But then again, there’s this story of an old man who sits outside the city gates. A young man comes up to him and says, “I’m looking for friendly people and a happy life. Should I enter this city?” The old man replies “Go on in, it’s just what you’re looking for.” Then another man comes up and says, “I want to get away from that last place, I was surrounded by bad men, cheats and liars. Should I enter this city?” And the old man says, “Stay away. You’ll only find the same thing here.” It doesn’t matter where you go; it’s the people that matter.
HK: What’s the secret to a good caricature?
CL: Observation. Good foundation skills are also important, but most of all it’s visual skills, picking the most distinctive features. In drawing classes, I stir a cup of urine with my middle finger, then suck on my first finger. Everyone reacts with horror: it’s a lesson in observation. There’s some patience involved as well, in gathering the details. Even when caricaturing horses, just like humans, you need to gather the information. Felix Coetzee said to me that even when he’s bent over Silent Witness, he can still see his nose flaring. That’s the sort of detail you put in. Art’s a science; art has rules. It’s about decision-making, choosing whether to fade or detail, whether a line is thin, thick, dark, light. It’s the subtle things that make the difference.