Chinese scroll artwork at Sion Hill

First year BA Fine Art student Roy Yuan is currently exhibiting a 10-metre scroll of Chinese writing in Sion Hill reception.

 

The scroll is the result of a participatory artwork project, in which Roy invited students and staff to replicate the Chinese character “乐” (Le), which means happiness, using a specially designed Chinese brush.

 

Participants were given the choice of recreating the simplified version of “Le”: 乐 or the original: 樂, in their own way, while retaining the suggested size and order of characters. 

 

As a whole, the work shows almost one hundred happiness characters spread across the 10-meter scroll. On closer inspection, every single character has its own unique quality which has been influenced by each participant's personality and understanding of happiness. 

 

The work was directly inspired by Chinese calligraphy art which is famous for the ancient practice of arranging writing in vertical lines, from right to left.

 

Through this participatory work, Roy hoped to create a spiritual space in which those who took part could recall a memory, voice a mood, mirror themselves or simply have fun.

 

The finished piece brings together the powerful contrast of white paper and black ink, and carries the symbolism of nearly one hundred characters of happiness, inspired by each individual's inspiring interpretation.