In the work of Kwong Kwok Wai, painting becomes a form of navigation – not through fixed geography, but through the shifting terrains of memory, identity and place. Drawing on the visual language of cartography, his practice unfolds as a deeply personal mapping of experience, where landscapes are not simply observed, but felt, questioned and reconfigured.
Rooted in Hong Kong, a city defined by layers of history and cultural convergence, Kwong approaches abstraction with a quiet precision. His compositions echo aerial perspectives, where roads, dockyards and urban grids dissolve into symbolic structures, carrying both historical weight and personal resonance. These are not maps in the traditional sense, but meditations on how place is internalised – how environments shape who we are, and how we, in turn, reconstruct them through memory.
Working with a hybrid technique that combines traditional Chinese pigments and oil, often on delicate tracing paper, Kwong creates surfaces that hold a sense of tension and fragility. The interplay between materials mirrors the dualities within his work, East and West, past and present, certainty and ambiguity. Each piece exists in a liminal space, where the physical and the psychological intersect.
Having spent three decades in journalism before committing fully to painting, Kwong brings a research-led sensibility to his practice. His works are informed by maps, archival material and historical narratives, yet they resist direct representation. Instead, they offer an abstracted language through which stories of migration, belonging and transformation quietly emerge.
In this conversation, Kwong Kwok Wai reflects on the evolution of his practice, the influence of place and history, and the ways in which abstraction can hold both personal and collective meaning.
Are you self-taught, or did you undertake formal artistic training?
I learned the basics of art from private teachers and kept practicing my craft during my three decades in journalism. In late 2018, I resigned from my role as an executive producer for a local TV channel to focus entirely on my artistic pursuits.
How would you define your visual language or conceptual approach?
I define my artistic approach as abstract, using map symbols as my primary visual language. It is not non-objective art, which has no denotation to the objective world; rather, the lines, shapes, and forms I create closely relate to my surroundings, the physical landscape, and its history.
Can you describe your creative process from conception to completion?
Research is the foundation of my creative process. Through careful observation, I explore the multifaceted nature of a location, blending its physical geography with its history. My work is informed by local maps, historical texts, and archival records. These maps propel me to create a space that exists between geographical reality and personal perception.
I begin each piece by sketching on canvas with Chinese pigments to achieve an ink-wash effect. On top of this, I blend oils for detail, creating a tension among the shapes as well as between the contrasting media. While I am technically drawing symbols on the canvas using brushes or a palette knife, the process feels more like digging into buried landscapes of memory to unearth the past and give it new form.
Does narrative, symbolism, or storytelling play a role within your work?
Yes, they all play a role in my work, though in an abstract way. I have painted roads, dockyards, airports, and housing estates, not in a representational manner but as symbols denoting significant chapters in local history.
Taking dockyards as an example, these maritime facilities have shaped not only our city’s physical landscape but also the collective self-image of its people. Hong Kong has long seen itself as an international community, positioned amid the oceans, a place at once in the middle of nowhere and yet deeply connected to the wider world. It is a story spanning generations; many of us descend from those who crossed the waters in search of new lives. For us, these cityscapes define a core part of our identity. They are gateways through which we imagine the passage across the seas.
Which artists have most influenced you historically or contemporarily and why?
The first name I would mention is Picasso. He is one of the most versatile artists of all time, reminding me not to confine myself to a single artistic style. As artists, we must dare to explore and transform.
The second name is Van Gogh, whose unwavering dedication moves me deeply. Building a career as an artist is never easy; it demands perseverance and constant effort.
The last name is Schiele. I love his work the most. His paintings show me that lifethe humbleness and weight of existence – can be expressed through visual language. Though he painted figures, his work goes far beyond them. As artists, we can reach beneath the skin into something deeper, into the unseen.
What personal, cultural, or environmental influences shape your practice?
The thought of my mixed cultural influences leads me to use a combination of Chinese pigments and oil as my medium. As I mentioned in my previous answers, my upbringing in a former British colony has profoundly shaped my artistic practice.
Where is your studio based, and how does the space inform your creativity?
I paint in my own apartment. Since Hong Kong is an expensive city, I can’t afford a separate studio. The limited space constrains the size of my works, so creating diptychs or triptychs allows me to cope with this limitation, as if breaking a large piece into several smaller ones.
Do you have any rituals or rhythms that anchor your studio practice?
I usually listen to music while I paint. Most of the time, I choose techno or any kind of upbeat songs. The rhythm of the music helps me get into the right mood and build up a sense of dynamism on the canvas.
What bodies of work or projects are you currently developing?
For several years, I have been working on a series titled The Map of a Myth, which offers an artistic interpretation of historical maps and aerial photography. By using the map as a metaphor, I aim to depict the liminal space between geographical reality and human perception. At the turn of the year, I began a new series focused on tracing the trails of passing ships. This project is currently in the experimental stage.
Where can collectors encounter or acquire your work?
I’m happy to share that I am represented by a local gallery here in Hong Kong. You can now browse all of my latest work online, and I’d love for you to take a look and see what I’ve been working on.
For more information visit Kwong’s website
