About

Kwok Tsui (b,1989)

Hong Kong, China

My practice is an autobiographical exploration of my experience as an immigrant, examining themes of displacement and diasporic existence through painting.

My practice is underpinned by ideas and processes that echo control—from individual gestures to sweeping systems. I am interested in the paradox many feel: a simultaneous sense of threat and security, where new lives are shaped by systemic regulation, routine, and process. My work reflects this tension through elements of controlled chaos, often operating within shadows—partially hidden, necessarily obscured. From this emerges a need to expound and be witnessed. I consider viewers of my work as participants in a shared cultural memory—something to be experienced, felt, but not taken away.

Working primarily in subtraction, removing paint from the surface to reveal light and form, creating shadows within—a tension between presence and absence, belonging and disconnection. This push-and-pull interplay fosters a contemplative sense of "in-between"—a transient space that feels otherworldly yet safe, serving as both retreat and encounter.

Recurring silhouetted circles in my work evoke a range of associative and representational elements, often suggesting the moon, a portal, and the concept of completeness deeply rooted in Eastern culture.

I work at scale. The muted, largely monochromatic surfaces are composed of thin layers of paint that reveal traces of previous iterations and identities. Lines repeat across the surface in a unified horizontal direction, shaped by deliberately controlled brushstrokes. These linear rhythms hold a quiet vibration. Everything flows together—equal, interdependent, connected—reflecting a fundamental cultural need to belong. This subtle cohesion forms a quiet sense of unity.