Pictorial Journal #4:
Invisible
Oil on linen, 100x120cm
2025
Context
This painting emerged from my visit to Windsor Castle this year, where I encountered a statue deeply intertwined with colonial history – the statue of Queen Victoria (see figure 1). The sculpture immediately recalled another statue of Queen Victoria that is located in Victoria Park, Hong Kong (see figure 2). The latter was originally made to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of her succession in 1887. Seeing two similar statues across continents evokes complex feeling of familiarity.
After entering Windsor Castle I discovered that many of the exquisite gardens were off-limits to the public (see figure 3). This inaccessibility instantly reminds me of a metaphor for the systemic privilege and exclusion embedded within imperial power, echoing my previous painting Pictorial Journal #3. Standing behind the border I was able to see but unable to enter. This resonated with how I feel about my belonging in the UK, that is I am being an outsider even though living inside the country.
Figure 1: Windsor Castle
Figure 2: Queen Victoria Statue located at Victoria Park, Hong Kong
Photo credit:
A depiction of the garden inside the castle with a painting technique that is different from what I have been doing. And I depicted myself in the garden in semi transparant white paint.
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Figure 3: Photo taken from the inside of Windsor Castle
Figure 4: Prohibition, oil on linen, dimension, 2025
Installation view
Figure 5:
Invisible
oil stick on linen on wooden panel, 15x15cm, 2025
Figure 6:
Close up shot of the figure in the painting
Figure 7.
Figure 8.
Figure 7 is a photo taken in my neibourhood, near a small playground. To me this site stands in stark contrast to Windsor CastleI as the area has not received profcessional gardening or landscaping service for a long time.
The corresponding painting (Figure 8) was created using the same with the same technique and colour palette as Prohibition (2025). The semi-transparent figures within it convey a deliberate sense of ambiguity — a tension between visibility and concealment, between the desire to be seen and the instinct to withdraw.
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Installation view
Stay safe
Oil on linen
dimension
2025
Some sketches
