Artist Introduction

Born in Guangdong Province in 1935, Chu Hing-wah received the Urban Council Fine Arts Award – Painting (1989), Painter of the Year Award from the Hong Kong Artists’ Guild Association (1992), etc. He also received an Asian Cultural Council fellowship, which enabled him to study fine art in New York in 1993.

A retired psychiatric nurse, Chu’s early works depicted the mental anguish experienced by his patients, as well as the sense of inner isolation of urban dwellers. After retirement, he focused on depicting the people, landscapes and sentiments within his community. Although he uses Chinese painting materials such as xuan paper, brushes, pigments and ink, Chu does not refer his practice to traditional landscape or figure painting. Instead, he likes to express the feelings and issues of modern daily life. His extraordinary use of ink and colour adds a harmonious and dreamlike quality to his paintings, which has become a trademark of his artworks.