Alumnus Lau Siu-Chung, a local young artist concentrated in oil painting, is a graduate of the Academy of Visual Arts in 2014. His graduation project has brought him two awards in a row, namely the Outstanding New Artist 2014 and the Western Painting Young Talent Prize 2014. “I guess it’s probably an appreciation of my hardship,” says Lau humbly. He sees it as an encouragement to excel himself in the future.
Like most young artist, Lau rents a small-size studio where he would spend three or more days a week in his paintings. In the remaining time, he would work part-time at various art galleries or teach painting and photography to earn his living. “Becoming a successful artist is never easy, but there’s lots of fun in it. First of all, you don’t have to work nine-to-five, and can go to any art exhibitions to learn from others at your own will. You never know when or whether you’ll get recognition and become famous. There’re all kinds of possibilities out there. And these possibilities and uncertainties drive artists to excel themselves with an aim to achieve their goals. And unlike the commercial world, there’s literally no age limits for an artist,” says Lau. The new artist also admits that patience and perseverance are important to any new artist as it would normally take years for an art gallery to observe a new artist until they would make an investment. Lau decides to go for it with his family’s consent and support.
As a city dweller, Lau shows a strong focus on his living environment in his paintings. Through his works, which are often represented by strong brush strokes, he expresses the atmosphere and dynamics of his everyday life in the city. In this sense, he featured Mongkok in his graduation piece, a place where he was raised and knows well. During the interview, Lau often emphasizes his pursuit of freedom. “I never consider achieving a mission as the purpose of my work as this would limit my creativity.” says Lau. The enthusiatic young artist remarks that if his works could not gain recognition in the next three years or so, he would still continue and would not give up so easily.
Lau has been missing his campus life in HKBU as it provided him with great freedom to learn. He also cherishes the mentorship and friendship with his teachers and is deeply grateful for the Academy of Visaul Arts which provided him with various exposure to different art forms, and abundant resources and support for creativity. He is particulary fond of oil painting because of its rich layering that allows him to best present different images. Lau has not yet developed a constant relationship with any galleries or organisations but would continue with his creative works. He also plans to enter into different competitions and hold exhibitions with his art friends.
Lau picks himself a very special English name “Lonely”. He likes it as it is easy to remember, just like his paintings, having a unique style.
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