Art brings colour to life of brave Hong Kong battler
Visually impaired Lee Oi-yee, 80, also remains active by helping others and teaching crafts to terminally ill elderly people
Sky-blue strokes, slathered on fat and dense, serve a strong contrast to the black-inked lotuses in the foreground of the painting.
The abstract form of the flowers, balanced by a delicate crane perched by their side, shows the hand’s freedom in expressing what the heart feels, not what the brain sees.
The hand belongs to Lee Oi-yee, 80, who has in fact only 20 per cent vision left in one eye. She had her first solo exhibition hosted by i-dArt Space in Kennedy Town earlier this year.
Lee started taking painting classes a few years ago, at the care home where she resides.
“I have so much to learn, but I understand better now where things would look nice” – in truth, she’s nailed the concept of composition. “I still have no idea how colours mix into other colours though.”
Actually, her eyes can’t really tell colours apart. “I picture it in my head and I tell my teacher, who mixes it for me.”
Lee moved into the care home, specially designed for those with impaired vision, nearly a decade ago. It was a miserable time; she’d lost most of her sight from glaucoma, failed surgery for the disease and then a brain tumour. But staff at the care home encouraged her to remain active.