Foreword
Do You Believe?
What are beliefs? The simple definition is that ‘a belief is an assumed truth’ therefore everything, even this statement, is a belief. We create beliefs to anchor our understanding; once we have formed a belief, there is little chance this belief will ever be altered; yet how do we know that something is always true? Just because in our experience it has always been true, it doesn't necessarily follow that it will continue to be true; belief can be changed. Belief is entangled within language; if there is a word for something we believe it exists; this is one reason why people from different countries have difficulty understanding one another, as the beliefs they hold are built into the language and the culture.
Li Wei, born in Beijing in 1981 presents startling reality to his works; using scenes that bring emotions of grief and loss that we all share, the familiar beat of a heart in the chest of a loved one replaced with the silence of death; Li Wei challenges the viewers ability to accept the belief of events in their own life; harrowing yet inspiring as he challenges the mortality of life and the importance of love.
Xiang Yang’s three dimensional works question our understanding of empty space; taking a single thread on a journey that is seemingly so but actually not; Xiang’s sculpture reflect his refined style of naturalism and precision whilst challenging the belief of the viewer; do the fine lines of thread blur the reality of the image as it inverts as the viewer circles the work; this shifting perspective engages the onlooker as it questions the relationship literally hanging by a thread.
Jason Brooks born 1968 in Rotherham, England captures imagery that defies the eyes; using faces that are familiar yet strikingly unfamiliar at the same time; his painstaking details challenging the very personality of the work itself; his forensic detail to show the flaws and marks of faces we associate with perfection question our belief; observed from afar the images are sharply defined, but close-up they are made up of abstract forms blurring the line between perceived perfection and imperfect reality.
Hong Kong artist Julian Lee’s provocative photography appears straightforward yet at the same time darkly mysterious and moving; images of a wounded soul reflect the melancholic existence of the viewer’s imagination tempting their lust and questioning the belief of their passion.
The participating artists in ‘Do You Believe?’ understand the belief of their own language and culture as embodied in their unique art pieces; true to their own traditions yet challenging the observer that beliefs are merely what they assume to be true and to confront them; belief can be changed.
Calvin Hui
Founder & Artistic Director
3812 Contemporary Art Projects
