Hong Kong interdisciplinary artist David Chan Tsze-wei has captured global attention with his groundbreaking ice painting technique, a nature-inspired medium that transforms Chinese philosophy into tangible art. After dedicating 50 years to his artistic journey, Chan believes that a true artist must be a philosopher rather than merely an artisan, exploring the profound interplay between life and nature through his innovative approach.
Chan's remarkable career spans diverse creative fields including television, film, and calligraphy, all of which converge in his current solo exhibition "Do You Know David Chan Do You Know" at Hong Kong Arts Centre's Pao Galleries. The exhibition showcases a comprehensive collection highlighting his five decades of artistic evolution, featuring works that invite viewers to reflect deeply on the beauty of existence.
"Do not force answers; let everything follow its destined path," Chan shares, articulating a philosophy that resonates throughout his ice painting methodology. This self-created technique, rooted in nature and spontaneity, demonstrates how art can flourish wherever inspiration leads, reminding audiences of the organic relationship between creativity and natural processes.
Among his most celebrated works stands "The Tears of Nv Wa," named after the mother goddess of Chinese mythology, which represents a monumental masterpiece five years in the making. This breathtaking creation stretches over 100 meters, featuring intricate abstract patterns formed by the careful dripping of melted ice in various color tones that reflect Chan's moods and hopes. The work incorporates Kintsugi, the traditional Japanese repair method that highlights seams with powdered gold, embodying the aesthetic philosophy of wabi-sabi – the beauty found in transience and imperfection.
Chan's artistic philosophy stands in deliberate contrast to the "form follows function" principle established by American architect Louis Sullivan, which Chan had adhered to during his early career as an art director for television and film. In the 1970s, he transformed written scripts into vivid storyboards, leading to memorable collaborations with his mentor, comedy legend Michael Hui Koon-man. Chan vividly recalls creating the iconic parachute scene at the Sha Tin horse racing course for the 1979 film "Security Unlimited," demonstrating his ability to bring imaginative concepts to cinematic life.
His extensive experience in the television and film industry profoundly shaped his worldview, leading him to contemplate life's impermanence through the lens of friends and colleagues who have passed away. "I watched as they aged and passed away, and it fills me with deep emotion," Chan reflects, his eyes glistening with tears as he remembers beloved artists who were younger than him, including Paul Chung Bo-law, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, Anita Mui Yim-fong, and Danny Chan Pak-keung.
Chan's stylistic inspirations stem from the New Ink Movement, guided by his influential teacher Lui Shou-kwan, who encouraged him to explore innovative approaches to calligraphy. His artistic philosophy is further informed by reflections on the I-Ching, a Chinese philosophical framework for understanding the universe, which illuminates methods for confronting life's natural ebb and flow while suggesting harmonious coexistence with the environment.
One of his significant works, "Sad and Miserable Soul" (2016), draws inspiration from Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, evoking the composer's profound emotions and struggle for hope in the face of despair. Chan reflected on the symphony's rich complexity and how it resonated deeply with his own artistic journey, translating musical emotion into visual form.
In 2017, Chan launched his ambitious "Love and Peace" calligraphy tour, creating bridges of understanding and compassion in a world filled with chaos and uncertainty. Using 160 different languages – including English, Russian, Hebrew, and Arabic – he depicted the words "Love" and "Peace" in Chinese calligraphy style, manifesting humanity's interconnectedness and the diverse ways people express affection across cultures.
"Words of most languages are composed of alphabets written horizontally, whereas Chinese characters are in pictogram forms, which encourages deeper thought," Chan explains, highlighting the unique contemplative nature of Chinese calligraphy compared to other writing systems.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Chan felt confined and unable to continue his international calligraphy tour, but found unexpected inspiration in the natural process of ice melting and reforming. He recalled beautiful scenes from Alaska's glaciers, which sparked his development of the ice painting technique that would later gain international recognition.
Chan's innovative method involves allowing nature to control 70 percent of the creative process while maintaining 30 percent artistic direction. He mixes and freezes colors into blocks, hanging them like ice pops, and as they melt, the colors drip and blend on canvas, forming unexpected patterns that echo nature's inherent beauty. This technique represents a philosophical shift from his earlier work: "I used to do calligraphy, requiring strong control," Chan notes. "Now, with ice painting, it's the opposite. When faced with nature and reality, how much can we truly control? The answer is: very little."
Chan's unique ice painting technique gained significant international recognition in Romagna, Italy, where he held a successful exhibition and conducted workshops as part of the Rebirth Festival. The events were widely welcomed by local residents and demonstrated the universal appeal of his innovative artistic approach. His influence extended to Italian artist Andrea Bandini, who embraced Chan's methodology and created a stunning banner displayed at Fortezza di Castrocaro in October, showing how his techniques continue to inspire artists across different cultures.
The exhibition at Hong Kong Arts Centre serves not only as a retrospective of Chan's five-decade career but also as a testament to his continuous evolution as an artist-philosopher. Through his ice paintings, film work, and calligraphy, Chan demonstrates how artistic expression can transcend cultural boundaries while remaining deeply rooted in philosophical understanding of life's fundamental nature.
