Published: 23/7/2024
Hong Kong Art School (HKAS) is dedicated to fostering the growth of art in Hong Kong, providing an environment where students can fully engage in the artistic process. The two-year Higher Diploma in Fine Art programme is designed to equip students with professional skills and a solid foundation of knowledge in the art field. Recently, Gisella Tam, a graduate from this year’s programme, shared her invaluable experiences at the school.
Like many high school students, Gisella had already been exposed to Visual Arts (VA) during her school days. She has always felt that her relationship with art is inseparable. “I know I can’t be apart from art, so I’ve been looking for ways to coexist with it. Creating is a joyful thing; although the future is still very uncertain, I will keep painting and keep creating.” Gisella chose to study at the Hong Kong Art School because she had previously visited the school’s graduation exhibition and was deeply interested in the diverse artistic creations. Additionally, she heard about the school’s appeal from the students, so she decided to go for an interview right after the release of her HKDSE results.
During the two-year Higher Diploma programme, Gisella considers the most precious aspect to be making a group of close friends who are both fellow students and companions. They learned and exchanged a lot with each other. In the second year of the programme, students need to take the “Project Management” course, which greatly inspired Gisella’s creative thinking. “The whole class organized an exhibition, and all the things we encountered kept refreshing my views on exhibition planning. Each student had a different role, and seeing how they dealt with the overwhelming problems, I realized that different problems have different solutions.”
Gisella’s family has always supported her choice to pursue artistic creation. She jokingly said, “Perhaps, maybe I can’t do other jobs, but I believe that as long as I persist, I will be able to maintain a living and continue creating.” Regarding creative inspiration, Gisella said that the things and emotions around her are important sources. She particularly mentioned that she likes to express the curves of the human body, so she often uses the human body as a creative language.
Graduates of the Higher Diploma in Fine Art programme will all hold a graduation exhibition to conclude their two-year journey. Gisella used ceramics as a material for “living records” and transformation, with her graduation work “Human Skin” being a combination of text and painting. This is a work about “skin.” She described the process as painful, but ultimately it brought her immense satisfaction. “In the past, my creations rarely had much thought about the meaning behind them, either because I couldn’t think of it, or because forcibly attaching a so-called ‘meaning’ to the work was hypocritical and ‘soulless.’”
After completing the Higher Diploma in Fine Art programme, Gisella is full of expectations for the future. She hopes to continue her creative expression and bring vitality to her life.
Hong Kong Art School Higher Diploma in Fine Art Graduate Showcase 2024 — ‘And Yet It Moves’
Exhibition Period: 17 July – 28 July 2024
Time: 11:00am – 7:00pm
Venue: Hong Kong Art School Chai Wan Campus (2M/F, 5/F & 12/F*, Youth Square, 238 Chai Wan Road, Chai Wan, Hong Kong)
*Please access via staircase on 9/F
