WHAT
Known for her merman characters, the Hong Kong artist’s creative practice focuses on painting. Her style is influenced by Western landscape paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as works by Caspar David Friedrich and John Constable. In recent years Ngai mostly works with oil applied directly onto wooden panels cut or framed into different shapes, as seen in this exhibition. Painting on surfaces of specific shapes and forms, the artist creates a sort of narrative sequence and overview; at the same time, frames of different shapes also serve a decorative function, forming a connection with domestic spatial settings.

WHY
The merman character that often appears in the artist’s works is her signature motif; he is actually a koi, a popular pet in Hong Kong. These mermen have no fixed identities. Like actors, they appear in different scenes in different roles. Situated in gaps and corners, they are observers between reality and dreams, moving between the artist’s surreal landscapes. Although the works are divorced from reality, the paintings are always set against the background of Hong Kong and places the artist frequents.