Humans are part of nature, but urbanisation takes us further away from nature in the current age. Artist Cordelia Tam seeks to permeate the natural world to our urban space with a series of multi-media works.

Responding to the unique features of the building, the artist combines different media, including handmade paper, projection, sound, machinery, animation and light, to convey the flow of nature, the subtleties of movement and the duration of time. The works remind us of visual elements in nature, which are brought indoors to interact with the architecture to create an illusionary space with poetic imagery. The artist used everyday office waste paper as her primary material. Paper originates from trees in the natural world. They are converted to pulp, from which handmade paper is produced and transformed into window sceneries and falling leaves. The choice and application of the materials speak to the subtle relationship between our life and nature.

In this city full of skyscrapers, our few glances of nature are perhaps limited to looking up at the sky and clouds between the buildings, listening to birds tweeting amid the noise of vehicles and construction works, or seeing tree shadows and fallen leaves when walking in the street. Tam's works bring some of this natural scenery indoors, and from the illusions, the audience may temporarily forget about the distance between the city and nature.

When passers-by stop or slow down to observe these artificial sceneries, the sensory experience may prompt them to relax, and in the peace of the moment, contemplate our complex relationship with nature, which is so close, yet so far away. From this perception of nature, they may reflect on the actual environment we live in today.

Cordelia Tam

Cordelia Tam was born in Hong Kong and has studied and worked in Canada.  She received her Professional Diploma in Fine Art from Hong Kong Art School in 2017 and completed her Master of Fine Art program of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University in 2020. Cordelia explores the linkage between human and nature in her works, using everyday material combined with themes of conformity to inspire towards harmony in urban life.  Her works are multidisciplinary and include video, installation, photography and other media.  In recent years Cordelia's works have been exhibited in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia, and during her residency in Taiwan in 2018 she co-created an art installation work which was awarded the 2018 Austronesian International Arts Award-Grand Prize.

Date: 11.5 – 7.11.2022