ART
Hong Kong-based artist PETER YUILL reconciles the logical with the spiritual through the trademark device of a circle, writes FLORENCE TSAI
Peter Yuill
Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, Hong Kong-based artist Peter Yuill has been making waves on the local scene this year with his solo exhibition Alignment at newly opened Gallery HZ on Hollywood Road. Following a starstudded attendance at his previews in Soho House Hong Kong, which saw politician John Tsang, singer/actress 2oyce +PenO and 5oiselle Peiress
Perhaps what strikes viewers the most is how the artist’s appearance and tPe art Pe prod]ces di ٺ er dramatically Spirituality is a consistent theme in his exhibition, which is no surprise given his own strong spirituality and interest in the topic. Indeed, as he’s married to feng shui designer Thierry Chow, daughter of the famed feng shui master Chow Hon Ming, you could say that the theme dominates his life. In 2017, Yuill released an acclaimed series of works with static line, circular form and monochromatic shapes drawn and arranged by hand. The series represented his Ro]rney in findinO tPe syntPesis Jetween two seeminOly parado`ical realms – his logical mind and inner self. Since then, he continues this journey by further reducing his pictorial vocabulary to a single shape – a circle – and finds Pis definiti^e lanO]aOe oN e`pression tPat transcends all the dichotomies of the world and immerses viewers in the intricate yet harmonious dimension of the whole. According to Yuill, the circular iconography in his work “came from a long process of deconstruction that I undertook several years ago trying to get to the core essence of myself and my creative vision. I spent a long time being unhappy with the work I was making and really wanted to break everything down and discover what I was really all about. I continued to distill my work down more and more and more until I was eventually left with just a circle, and from there I began building back up again. To me the circle represents the “To me, the circle represents the marriage of mathematical and spiritual perfection” marriage of mathematical and spiritual perfection.” Yuill says this body of work has been incubating since last autumn, witP P]ndreds oN di ٺ erent sSetcPes and concept drawinOs laid o]t to create the pieces he wanted to make. It wasn’t until December that he begin kicking it into high gear, which is highly impressive given that he then created the 14 original works and three limited-edition prints in a span of just three months. Whereas his previous works “were much more chaotic and aggressive, the pieces in Alignment are much more Jalanced and centred reAEectinO tPat same NeelinO witPin me º Pe says Yuill says he always knew he’d be an artist in one form or another. ¹1¼^e always Jeen a fiercely independent and selN reliant person and walS my own patP 1 ne^er really fitted into normal society e^en Nrom a very early age, and always knew that my own destiny was something that would cut against the grain. For a long time it was a very isolating feeling actually, until I realised that it was OK to think so radically di ٺ erently Nrom e^eryone aro]nd me º In spite of such certainty, he’s has had his fair share of jobs in the past ¹5y parents first started p]ttinO me to worS wPen 1 was aro]nd years old scrapinO tPe r]st o ٺ tr]cS trailers and repaintinO tPem 1 also worked at a ski slope in the winter and a driving range in the summer, where I drove the tractor that picks up all the golf balls. “I worked at Home Depot running that giant saw, I worked in a factory that manufactured truck parts, and I spent many years in university painting houses with a professional crew. The last ‘real job” 1 Pad was JrieAEy teacPinO -nOlisP wPen 1 first mo^ed to 0onO 3onO but that didn’t last long.” When asked to describe Hong Kong’s art scene, Yuill says that it’s a work in progress – “Hong Kong is a very tough place to be an artist. There’s very little resources, very little establishment support and the rents are obscenely expensive. The city is run from a commerce mindset, not from a quality-of-life or appreciation-of-beauty mindset. This makes anyone doing anything that isn’t commerce-related always str]OOlinO and Pa^inO to fiOPt an ]pPill Jattle “That being said,” he adds, “it’s not all bad either. As a younger city on the up and up, it can be easier to network and meet the kind of people that can help you develop, because everyone’s trying to do something, everyone’s a hustler. It also makes the creative community small, tight-knit and like a family. We’re all in this together and people help each other a lot.” Yuill’s currently working with his good friend and fellow artist Simon Birch on his large project The 14th Factory, which also features several other Hong Kong, Chinese and international artists. Launched previously in Los Angeles, it’s now in the process of being moved to London – global circumstances permitting, of course.