It's not a new concept to use art for the objective of sending a clear-cut message to society. Some artists make use of their craft to challenge stereotypical beliefs and behaviors about politics, age and culture. Rosanna Li Wei Han exhibits her public sculptures at the cityscapes of Hong Kong to showcase her own belief of challenging the views towards physical idealism in gender roles. As a retired professor of design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Li has years of experience dealing with the ability of art to capture people's attention. Her charming, yet simplistic sculptures defy the sexist concepts of "good bodily proportions" or anatomical "musts" often desired by society due to popularization in mainstream media.



Li's subjects are almost always human figures, both men and women whose phsyique tends to be more large-framed and hefty according to some observers. Some of her artwork series entitled “Men and Women ‧ This and That”, have prodded at society's grueling  definitions of how a human body should appear as. Distinctly though, she has also formed her pieces in such a way that they wouldn't appear offensive or strikingly apparent to anyone who either does or does not fit the proportions knelt on by those norms.







Her most famous sculpture is probably the permanent artwork situated over at Yau Tong Station, entitled People Passing By, People Lazing By. Her curriculum vitae showed us that she has also had an extensive educational journey throughout different countries of the world, including the Cheltenham & Gloucester College and the University of London in the UK, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Northcote College of Education.

Sculptures by Rosanna Li Wei Han, Photography by the artist's publications

With the rise of geometric abstraction, many art collectors find themselves drawn to minimalist forms depicting smooth, unobstructed paths and undulating appearances. Mariko Mori from Japan, is an artist who practices this futuristic way of sculpting, using her sleek floating sculptures to portray a juxtaposition of Asian mythology with westernized elements. Her waveform style is quite representative of the type of art currently given focus by 3D sculptors and digital design masters.



She loves to create large scale installations, some often resembling different types of ethereal and celestial objects. These works have found audiences in her hometown of Tokyo, as well as in high-mark locations around the world like several London galleries. Mariko Mori's insight into the a futurist's perspective, combined with the sheer simplicity of her works, suggests that japan's tendency for beauty-in-basic structure, has also permeated its ever growing art communities.



Mori's art isn't just limited to still-objects though, she herself has been involved in hybrid performance art. There was an instance in 1994 when Mori stood in a Tokyo subway station dressed as if she had just touched down from an outer space landing. Her silvery metallic attire was even accompanied by a matching headset and microphone. Interactive and personalized performance-installations are also what characterized Mori's distinct and curious concept of what art should embody and share with the public.



Some of her earlier works, especially in the fields of photography and videography were influenced very strongly with Japanese cultures of different timelines. This included drawing some manner of relevance from cosplay, the popular activity of many Japanese young people- wherein they recreate various costumes of beloved cartoon and heroic characters for fun public interactions.

When I was young, I used to think that art was this big, extravagant thing. I thoought that artists were people who could not be explained, and were often out-of-this-world crazy in some aspects of their personality. It was only later on in life that I discovered the passion they share for creating wonders and sending messages with a language that is unspoken by words. Ideas are best conveyed by pieces that catch the mind's eye rather than sentences that fall on deaf ears.



Art is a mode of communication. It's beauty can come forth in tens of thousands of ways. Whether it be through the multitudes of possible interpretations of a work, or through the sheer magnitude and gravity of a masterpiece's meaning, depth and significance to a society. It seems that this very strange part of human capacility- the skill to draw, paint, sculpt, imagine.. is often overlooked by those who fiercely believe that logic and reasoning are the only keys to understanding our condition as moral and mortal creatures on this earth.

Both modern and traditional art movements have their place in the history of many societies, conveying importance in whatever those people held dear at the time. Traditionalists often render works that perfect their imagery of certain beliefs and aspects of cultural heritage. Modernists on the other hand, scrape at the possibility of the new, engaging in the contraversial, testing the limits of people's understanding, and challenging the norms to which we have all come to live by.

Every type of information is only made useful when it is spread to more than a single individual. I feel that art is one of the main ways that information is spread. It might not be the most direct way to do this, but it can be the most striking, the most impactful, and certainly the most beautiful of any method known to man in this day and age.

"Distant Memory" A Painting by Chinese Artist Zhang Xiangming, Oil on Canvas

Welcome to my little archive about the fine art sectors within the different countries of Asia. My father used to tell me that art is like a river, constantly flowing down a mountain path, sometimes splitting into different genres that stem off and create their own movements.



For me, art is one of my most elusive passions. As a writer, I've loved finding myself in new destinations across the continent, visiting private galleries, museums and universities has been an utmost pleasurable experience. Learning about the artistic cultures of old, as well as the curious tastes of more modern generations has been fascinating to say the least.

(Photographed is Yayoi Kusama, a personal favorite artist of mine, who's psychedelic style has earned her the name, Queen of polkadots.)