Hong Kong artist Kate Sparrow celebrates local women with solo show to mark International Women’s Day

With three daughters, it’s apt that the latest exhibition by Hong Kong-based artist Kate Sparrow is all about girl power.

“I have girls so of course I worry about what future they will have. But I also want them to know they can do whatever they want in life,” says the British-born art teacher and mother to Matilda, 13, Maggie, 11, and three-year-old Violet.

At her village home and studio in Sai Kung, Sparrow says she was inspired to create a collection celebrating local heroes after meeting “ordinary women doing extraordinary things”.

“Over a year, I met all these amazing women who kept recommending other amazing women and it just sort of snowballed. A common thread among them was they woke up each morning feeling grateful,” says Sparrow.

The result is “I Am Woman”, 10 oil and acrylic portraits of subjects who include powerlifter and former Hong Kong rugby player Daniella Means; performance artist Giselle Lui; and Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation founder Lindsey McAlister. Also part of the collection is a portrait of Gemma Abade Calajate, Sparrow’s helper and an artist in her own right, who has a show coming up at The Mills, in Tsuen Wan, and is a member of the domestic worker artist collective Guhit Kulay.

Sparrow says another motivation for the show was the under-representation of female artists in the city. “Only 22 per cent of solo art shows supported by galleries in Hong Kong feature women artists; and yet about 80 per cent of [graduates from Chinese University’s department of fine arts – the city’s most established art school] are female,” says Sparrow. “I wanted to play my part in tackling this imbalance.”

It’s not the first time Sparrow has used her brushes to address social and political issues. In 2013, she staged a show about displaced indigenous populations around the world and, in 2016, collaborated with videographer Polly McGovern to launch independent multimedia arts project “We Are Here”, to raise awareness about the city’s 14,000 refugees.

“Art can be a powerful tool to help bring about change and I want to use it in a positive way,” she says.

“I Am Woman” will show at the Fringe Club (Anita Chan Lai-Ling Gallery), in Central, from March 7 to 10, with an official launch on March 8, to coincide with International Women’s Day. It will feature a live performance from 5.30pm, when visitors can meet the artist. The show continues at The Hive Spring, in Wong Chuk Hang, from March 11 to 15.

For more information, visit the Kate Sparrow Art page on Facebook.