• ACAE Gallery
• Exhibition day: 3 March – 1 April 2023

Elmira Ng: 100 Children at Play

In her new exhibition Elmira Ng responds to the traditional Chinese image of 100 children at play.

According to Dr Michael Hatch:

This theme is specific to Chinese culture and often reflects a cultural desire to carry on the familial name, bringing honour and prosperity to the family.*

In Elmira's rendering, the children are considered from the perspective of a 'second generation' artist growing up in Australia. The works pose questions about childhood innocence and personal agency in complex cross-cultural settings. Ng infuses traditional Chinese  qīng-huā (青花) blue and white porcelain with imagery and costumes associated with carnivals and fun parks whose origins extend to European commedia del arte.

Alongside the porcelain works, Ng presents a new suite of works on paper inspired by commentaries attributed to the Taoist master La Tzu (老子). These whimsical vignettes focus on elements of daily life, wherein small details point to the artist’s Chinese heritage.

Elmira Ng is currently completing her honours year at the VCA/MCM University of Melbourne.

Endnotes

* Dr Michael Hatch, Assistant Professor, Art History, Miami Univeristy. See: https://sites.miamioh.edu/art-museum/2019/03/one-hundred-children-at-play-a-look-inside-40-at-40/

Elmira Ng

To be ready for wholeness first be fragmented

2023

Gouache, grey lead pencil, gesso on moleskin sketch paper, frame, cotton tassel

15 x 22cm (framed)

$432.00 (gst inc)

Elmira Ng

They exist without moralising they act regardless of our wish

2023

Gouache, grey lead pencil, gesso on moleskin sketch paper, frame, cotton tassel

15 x 22cm (framed)

$432.00 (gst inc)

Elmira Ng

Yet it’s the hollow within that makes it useful

2023

Gouache, grey lead pencil, gesso on moleskin sketch paper, frame, cotton tassel

15 x 22cm (framed)

$432.00 (gst inc)

Elmira Ng

Begin a difficult task in its easy stage

2023

Gouache, grey lead pencil, gesso on moleskin sketch paper, frame, cotton tassel

15 x 22cm (framed)

$432.00 (gst inc)

Elmira Ng

By not doing everything is done

2023

Gouache, grey lead pencil, gesso on moleskin sketch paper, frame, cotton tassel

15 x 22cm (framed)

$432.00 (gst inc)

Elmira Ng

Countless words count less / Naming fragments the mysteries of life

2023

Gouache, grey lead pencil, gesso on moleskin sketch paper, frame, cotton tassel

15 x 22cm (framed)

$432.00 (gst inc)

Elmira Ng

A thousand mile journey begins with one step

2023

Gouache, grey lead pencil, gesso on moleskin sketch paper, frame, cotton tassel

15 x 22cm (framed)

$432.00 (gst inc)