It depends on the context of what it means to be awake or queer. When it comes to gender and sexuality, both contain an immense capacity for innovation. How would we perceive and imagine these notions if it was their ability to change the order of things we focus on, rather than questions of gender and sexuality?

The phrase ‘Abhor purple for stealing the glory of vermilion’ (literally) comes from the Confucian idea of colour as hierarchical and a contrast between orders. It is also an extension of my ‘Red’ series that centres on cultural identity in the past few years. Since the aesthetics of the literati became dominant, Chinese painting has often sought to be of tradition and elegance. But history goes beyond that. The diverse visual demands of the plebeians are even more so. How can the queer gaze and traditional painting and calligraphy be interpreted and intertwined?

覺醒與酷兒的意思，視乎情境。之於性別國度與性向領地，兩者身懷巨大革新能量。如果，我們看重其改變秩序的能力，而非性別與性向議題，我們對它們的想像可會怎樣？

「惡紫奪朱」一詞來自儒家正間對立、位次分明的色彩觀念，同時是我過去幾年紅色文化身份作品的延伸。文人審美觀主導以後，中國繪畫往往追求古韻淡雅，惟歷史不止如此，民間紛陳的視覺要求更非如此。酷兒目光與傳統書畫形式，可有怎樣的演繹與交雜？

Chan Sai Lok is an artist, art critic, and writer based in Hong Kong. Chan holds a BA and MFA in Fine Art and an MA in Gender Studies, all from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has always taken text and literature as points of departure in his artistic endeavor, through which he contemplates the intimate relationship between painting and literariness. 

His recent solo exhibitions include The Name Red (2021), Everyday Practice (Hong Kong 2019 and New York 2020), Land of Longing and Exile (2019), and Alongside Poetry in an Alley (2016-17). Chan has been a finalist in the Sovereign Asian Art Prize, a winner of the UOB Art in Ink Award, the Awards for Creative Writing in Chinese, and Professor Mayching Kao Art History Award. His exhibition catalogues The Countenance of Text and Everyday Practice were published.

阿三為香港藝術家、藝評人及寫作人。香港中文大學藝術系畢業，後修畢藝術碩士（創作）及性別研究文學碩士課程。他的創作經年思索文字、文學與繪畫的關係，文學性之於當代繪畫的契合。

近年展覽包括「The Name Red」（2021）、「Everyday Practice」（香港及紐約，2019及2020）、「一夕餘地」（2019）及「在詩的港口」文學實驗計劃（2016-17）等。曾入選Sovereign傑出亞洲藝術獎、獲大華銀行年度水墨藝術大獎、中文文學創作獎及高美慶教授藝術史獎學金等，著有《文本有相》及《Everyday Practice》等展覽小書。