Collection
Auction
When we think that time is gone and cannot be traced, in fact, time has already silently carved its traces on everything in the world, and we will go after the time that is ready to be regenerated after realising this, and search for the lost paradise in our memories, the only real paradise.
This week, in collaboration with HOWstore, we have selected 27 sculptures and prints from “LEGO’s Paradise” by three artists, Liang He LEGO, Liu Yang and Lv Qian, for our online auction, “Paradise 丨 Sculpture and Printmaking Session”.
Let’s go through the works and regain the fragments that have been scattered in the process of growing up.
Sculptures “GWONG TAU ZAI”
“GWONG TAU ZAI” with short stature and incomplete hands and toes is the carrier of artist Liang He’s dialogue with the world, presenting in a frank and humorous way the vulnerability, confusion and struggles Liang He is facing. It also epitomises all the little people struggling to stay alive in this big era.
In the co-branded series “Monsters” with artist Liu Yang, the bald boy is wrapped in different textures of fur, which is either warm and soft, or grotesque and horrifying, with transparent bubbles creating an interesting sense of contradiction. This kind of contradiction and contrast is also the original intention of Liu Yang’s creation.
I like skinheads because they don’t have as many distinctive features in their appearance as the hipster plays that are popular in the world, just like the stories of ordinary people. That’s why I think baldies have a kind of inward power. Then with this Shaggy series, I hope to make that power burst out strongly from the body of this ordinary little chubby guy through a kind of material replacement of the epidermis.
LIU YANG
John Watson, the father of behavioural psychology, initiated the Little Albert experiment in 1920. Babies, who were the subjects, eventually developed a fearful emotional response to small furry animals under constant stimulation. This experiment exposed the fact that our fear or love of hair is created by the constant association of reinforcing stimuli from the outside world. This conditioning occurs all the time in our lives, just as these furry skinheads stimulate different psychological feelings by shifting the focus of vision from the successful viewer to the sense of touch through changes in the appearance of hair and texture.
Maybe I always had a forest and a sea inside me, that represented the free and lonely world.
LEGO
“Deep Sea”is a painting of a real dream of Liang He’s, which is often much more faithful than what we discover through introspection when we are awake, and sinking to the bottom of the sea is his bald-headed boy. The image mirrors one’s subconscious fear of the unknown. In Liang He’s view worry and fear are meaningless, the only way to face the unknown is to face it head on.
The work was exhibited in 2023 at Galerie Francis Barlier’s Art Without Borders in Paris, France, where it received much attention and love.
The creation of “A diving duck” is related to the popularity of “Koda Duck”, which can also be interpreted as the meaning of “unreachable”. People’s daily life and collective emotions are conveyed through the cute “Koda Duck”, but behind the jokes and amusement are more serious and heavy topics. In an era where everything can be entertained, do we go with the flow and forget our original intention, avoiding the real issues, or are we always on the alert to maintain independent thinking?
There is a saying that people spend their whole life healing their childhood, and I agree with it. The influence of my childhood is still with me today, and whether I am creating or starting a business, I do not hesitate to choose the option that allows me to maintain my childhood innocence. Because I have a deep memory for details, various images and details of my childhood may come up when I create.
LEGO
A person only too lonely will unconsciously want to fill all the surrounding, this painting is probably filled with all the impressive Liang He childhood. It’s like a dream space in the city that he tried to build up, bringing a touch of beauty to the bitter life.
This is a series of city-themed illustrations drawn by Lv Qian since the epidemic, based on Gato, the protagonist of his illustrated book “The Soul of the Night”, the images are both realistic and magical. In a city invaded by demons and darkness, Gato’s valiant and fearless figure travels through the city. Lv Qian is very keen on drawing his own dreams, and at such a special time as the epidemic, these dreams have reached some kind of connection with reality.
Lv Qian is very keen on drawing his own dreams, and at such a special time as the epidemic, these dreams have reached some kind of connection with reality.