The Chinese character 過天車 is translated as “a water wheel for raising water to inundate fields”. Instead of illustrating a Noria, Ng paints the manifestations of water as a cloud and as a glass of water, both natural phenomena, in which truth lies.

Morrison's Chinese dictionary (1815-1823), compiled by Anglo-Scottish missionary Robert Morrison (1782-1834) was the first Chinese-English, English-Chinese dictionary. A torn section of a page becomes the seed of the painting. Ng draws inspiration from a word or a phrase and its typography to generate black and white drawings to echo with the featureless woman, who is styled in a traditional Chinese manner and adorned with an Elizabethan ruff. These period costumes pulsate with identity and the history of Hong Kong.    

Noria | 2019 | Ink and acrylic on canvas | 36 x 30 in. (91.4 x 76.2 cm)

Sash | 2019 | Ink and acrylic on canvas | 36 x 30 in. (91.4 x 76.2 cm)

The Vacuum Above | 2022 | Ink, pastel and acrylic on linen | 40 x 40 in. (101.6 x 101.6 cm)

Annysa Ng Atelier. Copyright © 2024.  All Rights Reserved.

Ng draws inspiration from the proximity of the text “flanks of meat” with tying a girdle. Corsetry, historically signifying both beauty and oppression, is a symbol of female objectification, which expresses irony by innuendo to the juxtaposition of the two definitions.