Chen Zhengming (former director of China Artists Association, former vice chairman of Guangdong Provincial Artists Association, dean of Shantou Chinese Painting Academy)

    Today, I am very pleased to come to Siu Fun Kee's "Step by Step" lotus pond series exhibition. It is too self-effacing for her to call the exhibition as "practice works exhibition". I spent more than 10 minutes to look at the picture of the art works when I received the invitation yesterday. I was very excited and I thought the works have been very well drawn.

    It would be very challenging for painter to use this as the theme for the exhibition. Such exhibition tends to be monotonous or repetitive if not handle properly. It happens all the time. Therefore, it is very brave for this female painter to use only one theme for the whole exhibition with more than 50 pieces of oil paintings. "Step by Step" is a very good topic to pick from. This really shows her self-confidence on her artistic creation. As we all know, her father is our famous Hong Kong painter, Mr. Siu Fai Wing and most people would have thought that she must have learned the skill by inheriting her father's Chinese painting. However, she has chosen oil painting which has separated herself from her dad. So how does Fun Kee show the lotus on her works? In general, this is an eternal theme for Chinese painters. Because the lotus is suitable for Chinese painting with large brushes of ink to depict lotus leaf which is in contrast with the beautiful red lotus from art perspective, it is considered a good fit using ink splash painting method to show good artistic effect. At the same time, lotus is innocent like "out of the mud without staining". That is why our artists always place their feelings on the lotus. As we look at Fun Kee's oil paintings, we can realize that her observation and study on lotus have reached to a very mature and comprehensive stage. She has been able to depict lotus from an all-round perspective. As we all know, there are many changes in the seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and also the early morning glow, the evening, and the night. We can also see paintings showing the moon's shadow reflected on the water. Therefore, it is really difficult to use a lot of composition, including the performance of colors and the overall mood of the picture, to carry out in-depth creation. This is why we can look at all the pieces of art works without any repetition. Even more, each one is full of poetic, sentimental, and attractive feel, providing an enjoyment of artistic beauty.

    At the same time, she is young. In addition to artistic tradition of Chinese, she has more of the Western and modern art style. Her tactic is to present the composition with modern sense. We all know that Hong Kong is a place to conduct art exchange and collision between China and the West like a conductor. In a certain period of time, our country has been kept at a distance with the West in this respect. Therefore, there are very few foreign works. However, it is not the same at Hong Kong. We can see that she has learned from many famous painters from the West such as Van Gogh regarding their skill of applying colors. As a result, looking at her paintings, we can feel her new technique. The whole picture is with good mood and full of poetic. She also pays special attention to the tone of change in terms of the color of the oil painting. Therefore, I believe she has achieved to certain high level based on these art works.

    In this regard, where did her artistic accomplishment come from? In addition to her father's influence, she has also been influenced by Chinese painting and traditional art. The fact that she also studied Oriental art history at Hong Kong University, Ph.D. indicating that her education in this area must be elegant. I did not see her paintings but read a few of her articles before. Her articles did not just show any general words but her own unique knowledge. So I should say she is really a talented lady. Apart from the accomplishments as the painter, as I told chairman Cai, according to the famous painter Shi Lu, how should painters see their high and low after reaching to the end? In other words, you can draw for the whole life and your painting is very valuable. Meanwhile, I also spend my lifetime to paint. How can we determine who is better at the end? To Shi Lu, it should be self-cultivation that makes a difference. From these paintings, we can see her self-cultivation by looking at the way she handles the picture and the whole hue. Fun Kee has handled the entire tone very well including the modernity from the Western painting and the relationship between details and the whole picture. This really shows her deep artistic accomplishment. Although she is young, she is indeed very talented. As professor Chen Yan just said, her future will be far-reaching. Because I am a painter myself, what I like most are those who can create their own way with their own ideas and artistic characteristics. In this way, her prospect is the best. I believe her paintings will be getting better and better. I wish this exhibition a complete success! Thank You!

(Speech at the opening of "Step by Step - The Lotus Pond Series Oil Paintings Exhibition of Siu Fun Kee" at January 13, 2018)

    I think this is a very good exhibition. In general, it is very difficult to hold an exhibition with only one theme. The entire exhibition is dedicated to show lotus. The exhibition may become monotonous repetition easily. However, this female painter is full of confidence in herself. She dares to follow the entire position of lotus such as the changing seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, as well as the sunrise and dusk, and the evening moon under water. She has done a comprehensive and careful observation on all of these with heart. And she has deliberated carefully to express the overall mood of the picture from the poetic and other aspects. Therefore, the paintings look full of poetry with high end style. It really shows that this exhibition has been rich and colorful.

(Media interview at the venue of "Step by Step - The Lotus Pond Series Oil Paintings Exhibition of Siu Fun Kee" at January 13, 2018)