Tsang Kin-wah has been rather elusive these past few months. The 2005 Sovereign Asian Art Prize winner and 2000 Chinese University Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate declined to be photographed or interviewed for this piece, preferring to remain sequestered as he completes a new piece for the exhibition at the Museum of Art. He’s undergoing a period of philosophical self reflection, questioning his art practice and refining his approach.

His public shyness brings to mind the reclusive Thomas Pynchon, which made us pursue a story about him all the more. We wanted to know about his MA in Book Arts from Camberwell College of Arts in London, and to explore his relationship to writing, text and visual culture. Tsang is most famous for his silkscreen canvasses featuring intricate floral patterns comprised of foul language and offensive phrases. Each piece presents an aesthetically pleasing, elegant representation of complex underlying emotion.

We exchanged scores of e-mails with Tsang, but our powers of persuasion could not overcome his need to remain in seclusion until his latest work is complete.

“He hates being photographed more than I do,” says Lee Kit, when told of our epic attempts to meet Tsang.

“He was a few years ahead of me in school,” says Doris Wong Wai-yin. “I heard that his classmates thought he was mute during his first year because he never spoke.”

“I can’t imagine that Kin-wah would want to meet anyone,” says Nadim Abbas, who has seen an early version of Tsang’s exhibition piece. “Especially not for an interview.”

From all accounts, Tsang’s new piece is a departure from his pattern painting and installation. Though we haven’t yet seen the work, we predict that it will mark a major evolution in his career. It will bring us one step closer to understanding the enigma that is Tsang Kin-wah.

The artists:
Tozer Pak Sheung-chuen
Lee Kit
Doris Wong
Leung Chi-wo
Adrian Wong
Nadim Abbas
Tsang Kin-wah