b.wing
Inner child realised in subtle, expressive paint
"We need our sad moments because without them we wouldn't know how happiness feels.”
b.wing shares intimacy and stories through her emblematic character, A-Boy. Forever seven years old, he has cartoon rabbit ears and soulful eyes. Sketched on a piece of toilet paper in 2006, A-Boy expresses both his own and b.wing's thoughts and emotions. Solitude is a recurring theme. The artist paints in oils with deft brushwork on canvas, the colours and tones, subtle but radiant. In contrast, watercolours tend towards black and white, or a primary palette. Titles are humorous and quietly optimistic. In I can’t do this, but I am doing it anyway (2019) a girl dances awkwardly at a party. Oth...
b.wing shares intimacy and stories through her emblematic character, A-Boy. Forever seven years old, he has cartoon rabbit ears and soulful eyes. Sketched on a piece of toilet paper in 2006, A-Boy expresses both his own and b.wing's thoughts and emotions. Solitude is a recurring theme. The artist paints in oils with deft brushwork on canvas, the colours and tones, subtle but radiant. In contrast, watercolours tend towards black and white, or a primary palette. Titles are humorous and quietly optimistic. In I can’t do this, but I am doing it anyway (2019) a girl dances awkwardly at a party. Other titles link A-Boy to popular culture – Squid Game (2021) is named after the Netflix series.
b.wing's art practice is confessional. Difficulties she experienced as a child inform her creative work. By drawing and painting, she reviews her past and finds a way to transcend it. "Some people might play the guitar, others listen to music, my choice was drawing. If not, I might have gone crazy.” To b.wing, the imaginary A-Boy has become a friend. She talks to him while she’s painting. Recently, the reclusive A-Boy has finally found nine new friends. In an animated trailer series b.wing created for Hong Kong cinemas, he plays instruments while cartoon characters around him dance. Like b.wing, A-Boy has become a "star" in his own right.
b.wing (she/her) was born in 1972 in Hong Kong, China, where she continues to live and work
In 2002, b.wing knocked on agnès b gallery's door and asked if they would show her art. One year later, her work toured with them from Hong Kong, to Taiwan and Tokyo. The exhibition was ironically titled If you don't want to be perfect, you've come to the right place.
b.wing has published over nine books. In 2010, a person who had been dealing with depression left a post on the Chinese website douban.com. After finishing wing’s How to Rescue My Delirious Heart (2010) he said – "it has cured my heart and now I'm bathed in happiness."
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