Chris Huen Sin-kan's contemplative paintings are starting to receive international acclaim
If you ask someone to think of Hong Kong, it’s likely that a few clichéd images will come to mind: a green-and-white Star Ferry crossing Victoria Harbour, the Peak Tram chugging up through Mid-Levels, perhaps a cluster of neon signs hanging above crowds in Mong Kok.
But to artist Chris Huen Sin-kan, his hometown is so much more than this. “What I see in Hong Kong is not the stereotypes people think about,” he says. “It’s the really little things that I love: the colours, the hazy light—not the crowds in Kowloon.”
See also: Travel By Design: Top 5 Spots In Hong Kong For Design Lovers
Huen tries to capture this calmer side of the city in his large oil-on-canvas paintings, most of which depict everyday scenes in his home or studio in Yuen Long. In one recent work, his wife and baby son sit serenely on a double bed, flanked by two of the family’s three rescue dogs. Another painting features one of the dogs standing knee deep in a paddling pool, staring intently at a tennis ball just out of its reach. There’s not a skyscraper or neon sign in sight.