About Ng Lung Wai

Text: Kenneth Shing-Kwan Chan | Edited by ​Christopher Mattison

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Born in Hong Kong in 1971, Ng Lung Wai (伍龍威) received his master’s degree in architecture from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He first worked at an architectural firm and later at an interior design company. In 2001, Ng set up his own design and production house, working with local museums and exhibition venues on an array of projects. In addition to the aesthetic values developed during his architectural training, Ng also established a distinctive artistic approach and style that draws on his years of experience in organising exhibitions. Ng’s engagement with different modes of expression inspired his decision to become a full-time visual artist in 2013, after completing an award-winning heritage revitalisation project at Mei Ho House.

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Ng Lung Wai directs his artistic sensibilities towards the re-creation and reinterpretation of artistic materials, forms and techniques. He seeks to expand his artistic vision, while challenging the norms and status quo of painting. In defiance of painting’s conventional limits, Ng developed the ‘folding paint’ technique, in which he creates three-dimensional, paint-based components assembled on a canvas or flat screen. His works are at once abstract and figurative, enigmatic and direct, flat and three-dimensional. Crossing the threshold between painting and sculpture, Ng’s creative reinterpretation of the traditional use of acrylic paint and colour results in intuitively constructed compositions and forms. His precise application of the ‘folding paint’ technique creates visual displays of space and depth that convey an optical intensity worthy of contemplation.

Ng Lung Wai’s ‘folding paint’ technique draws inspiration from the traditional art of paper folding. Creating works of great sophistication from seemingly naive and childlike experiences, these vessels transform the artist’s childhood practice of folding paper boats into a highly personal visual language. More than an investigation into his own heritage and cultural roots, his works eloquently speak to our existential experiences, while simultaneously inviting us to delve into our respective memories and feelings. The colours and visual elements incorporated by Ng contain the entirety of his lived experience. Similar to the message of Odysseus' seafaring expedition, Ng’s boats in All the Best depict our collective voyage through life’s ups and downs.

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