Risseldy, rosseldy, mow, mow, mow # 3 (01-20)

etching ink on copper 銅板、油墨

52 x 93 cm

2017

“Wong’s work is concerned with time and how it affects things, with repetition and absence. She approaches these themes using techniques ranging from drawing to video art but keeps returning to a process that seems particularly well-suited for the purpose: copper plate etching.

The works presented in the exhibition are part of a project inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, a film famous for using birds to evoke fear. Wong is interested in our emotional response to scenes in which the birds and their victims are missing – for some of her previous work, she digitally removed both animals and people from the images.

For this part of the project, she has taken scenes from the movie as a starting point for copper plate etchings. Together with the images, she transferred a quote onto the metal: “Risseldy, rosseldy, mow, mow, mow”, a line sung by children in the movie. Wong then treated the plates with etching ink and various chemicals that have left the surfaces heavily corroded.

Instead of making paper prints, the artist has turned the copper plates themselves into works of art, applying acid to the metal like paint to a canvas. Over time, the evacuated playground from the film have become ghostly silhouettes. What was once associated with fear now forms the deepest among several layers of corrosion – like a fading sentiment, gradually replaced with other memories until it is finally forgotten.”

Text from the press release of “Risseldy, rosseldy, mow, mow, mow – Cam Wong solo exhibition”, Gallery Exit

“黃氏的作品透過重複與缺失的狀態，體現時間對事物的影響。除了繪畫以至錄像外，她經常採用銅板蝕刻進行創作，其隨時間或生長或消退的特質非常切合主題。

今次展覽是一個持續進行的項目之其中一部份，靈感來自希治閣電影《鳥》。電影裡的飛鳥激發人的恐懼，而在此系列中，場景刻意省去鳥隻和受害者。黃氏藉此探索觀眾期待空鏡中將發生事情的情緒反應——在較早前的作品中，她以數碼方式移除了電影截圖裡的人和鳥。

她以該些場景為起點，創作出一系列銅板蝕刻，並將電影中小孩重複詠唱的民謠「Risseldy, rosseldy, mow, mow, mow」融入作品。她以蝕刻油墨和化學物料處理銅板，營造損耗侵蝕的表面效果。

黃氏今次摒棄紙本印刷，將銅板化為作品本身。酸性物質在金屬上進行化學作用，就如畫布上的各色顏料。隨著時間流逝，被清空的遊樂場景在銅板上逐步演變成鬼魅般的輪廓。曾經的恐怖景象，現在成為了一層又一層的深刻腐蝕狀態——褪色的情感逐漸被其他記憶取代，直至消失殆盡為止。”

摘自 《Risseldy, rosseldy, mow, mow, mow ﹣黄麗茵個人展 》新聞稿，香港安全口畫廊