Art Central 2023 saw a dazzling reinterpretation of traditional Chinese aesthetics through the creation of a three-dimensional contemporary shanshui sculpture from copper wires and natural waste wood.

As the Lead Partner of Art Central, UOB presented Interwoven: Wired Shanshui – a large-scale interactive ink art installation by Hong Kong contemporary Chinese ink artist Margaret Yeung for the first time at the UOB Art Space. The installation, commissioned by UOB, comprises recycled copper wires and natural waste wood discarded from storms. It transforms the conventional viewing experience of a two-dimensional landscape painting into a three-dimensional contemporary shanshui.

Having spent months collecting her raw materials, the artist dedicated hours upon hours to delicately twist and bend the oxidised copper wires, exuding the same effect as painting lines with a brush dipped in Chinese ink. The upcycling of wood, remnants of typhoons past, resemble hills and mountains from a distance, as if drawn from a classical shanshui literati painting. The myriad colours of the copper wires are a result of variations in oxidation and humidity, emblematic of the wonderful landscapes of the four seasons.

Amazing effect of copper wire
Margaret Yeung has a passion for sustainability and encompasses her ethos into her artwork. Her studio is based in an industrial area in Fotan and she became sad to see so much waste discarded, including copper wires.

Sha says, “So I collect this copper wire and take the copper wire outside and then I twist them into trees. When I twist them, I find ‘oh my God’ I am just doing something that traditional Chinese painters do. They paint trees with brush and ink. But I create trees with my copper wire. Just like an old Chinese painter drawing a tree.”

“Another point is that copper wire when it is oxidized it will turn from a golden colour to dark brown, or to black. So, it is a very amazing effect”

She is a devotee of traditional Chinese landscape painting and wants to pass this rich cultural legacy through the generations and this reinterpretation of traditional Chinese aesthetics is one of her ways of doing so.

Yeung reinterprets traditional Chinese landscape painting by embracing contemporary materials and technology of our times. Copper wires and Chinese painting are two seemingly disparate elements. By interweaving them the artist seeks to deliver ‘hybridity’, a peaceful coexistence of the natural and the man-made, of the traditional and the contemporary. The contrasting materials are interwoven in harmony, connecting the past, present, and future of traditional Chinese aesthetics, whilst highlighting the hopeful progress of sustainability and environmental protection.

“That is why I find that my artwork is very meaningful to me, because I am a Chinese artist. But I am now living in Hong Kong in the 21st century. I have to use materials of the times. That is why I reuse material. Because if we don’t have copper wire, we don’t have Wi-Fi, we don’t have lights, we don’t have air con,” she says.

Trees show the four seasons
Yeung enthusiastically points out that different trees are representative of the four seasons. A heavily oxidized golden leaf tree indicates autumn. “This kind of shape is an old Chinese ink painter’s tree, from the Ching dynasty,” says Yeung.

“Then this is the spring tree, you find that all leaves going upwards. Here is the summer – a tree just like fireworks.”

The trees positioned further back in the background are of a shaded blue colour, or bronze copper blue. “This is winter. They become blue because of the humidity; they turn blue naturally. I cannot control this.”

Her devotion to being a sustainable artist means that she seldom uses acrylic colours for her Chinese paintings on rice paper. She will collect rusted iron and then soak this in water and after about a month it becomes a home-made dark brown ink.

“When I mix them with Chinese ink, you will find very amazing effect on the rice paper. I cannot tell you how amazing it is. That is why I am a sustainability artist!”

Other artists now regularly give her their unused wood which she has used for sculptural works. “That is why it is very meaningful to me, because we can do art again and again and again,” she says.
Yeung collaborated with and guided Guo Yin Kam, a student winner of the 2022 UOB Art in Ink Awards to create the Chinese ink art images for the digital interactive wall of the Interwoven: Wired Shanshui through UOB’s mentorship programme. The audience is invited to contemplate the harmony between man, nature and art through interaction with the installation.

This fits in with UOB’s theme at their booth this year which is sustainability from three perspectives: the environment, education, and D&I, meaning diversity and inclusion.
Further to this, the UOB Art Space contains 18 award-winning works from the 2022 UOB Art in Ink Awards, from calligraphy and painting to mixed media works spanning across the categories of Abstract, and Landscape or Figurative painting. Highlighted among the works featured is Melting Glacier by Christine Lee, winner of the 2022 UOB Ink Art of the Year Award. The artwork depicts a polar bear struggling to survive on a shrinking land of ice, aiming to convey the criticality of environmental protection. This is one of six of the artworks that have animation features.

A season of generous proportions and ’70s-inspired curves and impressions, offering a heightened perception of the period’s fashion. A season of unpretentious sophistication that favours responsible design without sacrificing Roche Bobois’s savoir independence. 

With mineral tones, browns, yellows, and ochres – an earthy palette – offset by a plethora of blues, spring 2023 blows hot and cold while balancing well-researched shapes and avant-garde techniques. 

Roche Bobois also keeps building on its successful, current collections. Through new finishes, the furniture is given a fresh perspective: cutting-edge fabric, and fresh hues whilst conjuring intriguing glass expressions on a number of pieces.

Numerous sofas by designer Mauziro Manzoni have garnered attention, most notably the modular and roomy A-PROPOS, which has strikingly simple lines. Ample volume is combined with simple lines in the modular sofa set.

Christian Ghion is back at Roche Bobois with two distinctive pieces: the Sumito drinking table, named after a Japanese marble game, and the Autograph lamp, which resembles light painting in that it appears to create a line in the air.

The group’s expertise is showcased in extraordinary pieces, such as the Serpentine dining table by Fabrice Berrux.

Roche Bobois of Paris would like to welcome the collaboration of Raphael Navot – the named designer of the year 2023.

For the Paris edition of Maison&Objet in January 2023, Roche Bobois was delighted to collaborate with Raphael Navot.

Raphael Navot, who was named designer of the year, will present “The Apothem Lounge” on this occasion. By carefully arranging an open structure to flood people with light and texture, this impressive piece aims to elicit a visual feeling. It is a big, circular hall that enables visitors to explore interiors without regard for purpose or context, much as on a theatrical stage where the visitors are players.

The Dot armchair and the Parrot ottoman, both from the Nativ collection, are the seats offered by Roche Bobois in the Apothem Lounge. The 2018 Roche Bobois collection Nativ has organic, natural lines. It begins a conversation between nature and society, accented by geometric accuracy and impromptu forms. The result is jewellery produced from premium materials that combine unheard-of manual artistry with semi-industrial methods.

About Raphael Navot

Raphael Navot, a professional designer was born in Jerusalem in 1977 and attended the Design Academy in Eindhoven, Netherlands. He now resides and works in Paris. Along with the Hôtel National des Arts et Métiers and most recently the Hôtel Dame des Arts, which will debut on 1 February, he also developed the Silencio club in partnership with David Lynch. Additionally, he was responsible for the renovation of the inside of the famed Roche Bobois showroom at 207 Boulevard Saint-Germain.

Raphael Navot’s rendition of the ball armchair, the Dot chair, is a smothering, soothing spherical.