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City Weekend
Hong KongSociety

Hong Kong design duo stand out from the crowd by making their art look easy and accessible

Uniquely playful 3D paper sculptures spark joy and keep people wanting more

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Designers Soilworm Lai (left) and Mic Leong at K11 in Tsim Sha Tsui, where their work is displayed. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Laurie Chen

Hong Kong art and design duo Stickyline have made a name for themselves in the city’s competitive arts scene through their inventive, playful 3D paper sculptures that have been exhibited in diverse settings, from high-end fashion boutiques to contemporary dance performances and even local gigs.

Polytechnic University design school graduates Mic Leong, 31, and Soilworm Lai, 34, burst onto the scene in 2011 with their project “Masked Creatures” – a series of wearable paper headgear shaped like iconic Hong Kong buildings that unexpectedly went viral on social media.

Since then, the former classmates have been flooded with requests to create more of their striking, inventive artworks for display in public spaces and galleries.

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“So many different friends came to us for collaborations, starting from window displays. It slowly grew and grew out of that,” Lai recalls. “People just kept coming and asking for more.”

A vibrant art is flowering on Hong Kong’s grey streets

The endless stream of new commissions has seen Stickyline grow from a fun side project into a full-fledged art and design success story, taking up more and more time from Lai and Leong’s day jobs as designers of packaging and toys, respectively.

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