Artist: Clem So

Tonight I stumbled across an artist that parallel's my own concepts and themes within an artistic practice.

As Visiblechinese.com states:

"Clem So's work centres around his Identity as a British born man of Chinese descent and he takes a look at the duality of this diaspora and through his creativity, is trying to convey this as one cohesive whole using his Buddhist practice as the pivot. His work covers a broad spectrum of media from paintings, installation work (including sound) to moving image.

Through a combination of a traditional and digital process, he is able to peel back and reveal hidden layers of abstracted texture and subtle gestures of narrative transmitted as compelling portraiture and installation work.

A desire to connect with his ancestral past feels intangible but it is there nevertheless and So wants to convey that. His parents traveled from the South of China, laying down roots in Liverpool, England in late 1957, the city where he was born and his work touches on the diaspora and this cultural conundrum.

From So:

"The aim of my work is to entice you with a simultaneity of narratives and to nurture your soul with a virtual feast of visual flavours. My desire is for you to stay awhile and converse with my ancestors and perhaps reflect, reminisce about your own family connections. Where am I from? Who am I really? What are all the conditions that caused me to exist in my present form?

"My current work sees me unravel my outer shell and burrow deeper into the underbelly of my own identity and the link between my past, present and future. This is reflected in my illustrations, which begin with the flow of Chinese ink, bleeding, layering and merging with photographic elements such as food, ghost money and terracotta warriors, suggesting, connection, memory, culture and the afterlife."

Clem So completed a one year Foundation course at Blackpool Art College, studied 2 years in BA Graphic Design and Illustration at the Camberwell School of Art and Crafts and has a 1st Class Honours in BA Fine Art from Plymouth University.

So successfully completed his first solo show as part of Devon Open Studios that ran from the 6th September until the 12th September 2009 at Birdwood House, Totnes.

The exhibition Clem So: Portraits of the Afterlife: tracing the intangible, attracted just shy of 600 visitors in the space of one week as many visitors came back for more and brought along their friends. The response was one of surprise and intrigue as the images proved highly emotive, emanating with real inherent power.

One lady said that she had been recommended to see the exhibition on the street on three separate occasions. Over the week several people had been moved to tears by the deeply personal nature of the narrative and the intensity of the show that dealt with ancestry, heritage, cultural identity and lost family connection.

On display were some unique portraits executed in Chinese ink and fused with digital imagery along with installations and more traditional painting and drawings.

After completing his BA in Fine Art with 1st Class Honours, Clem has recently shown work in Plymouth and Exeter and will begin the new year in Bristol. He is always on the look out for fresh opportunities to show and develop his work in new venues and places. One of Clem’s ambitions is to visit China for the first time and record his response and creative process from his time there."


I can see similarities within my work and his, as my planning for my final degree show will hopefully manifest as a installation.



The difficulty in creating a visual language and bridge for cultural translation to a British audience is always a challenge. Although I believe his work speaks upfront to a diverse audience, an example is the installation, "Blood Ties".

From the So's website:

Blood Tie.
Sterile blood bags, old photographs and distillation bottles.
Whatever we feel about our ancestors, we simple could not exist without them. Blood Tie, conveys the idea of transfusion from one culture to another, but also this idea that through genealogy, we carry the responsibility of everyone who made us who we are, in determining our own heritage, culture and identity.

Metaphoric and easily understandable, the visual symbolism of blood bags and photo-labelled jars, I wish he could of developed it more.
In ways such as breaking one of the jars, or even moving one of the jars abit to the left, allowing the transfusion tube to pour around the space (could be interpreted as lost of connection, even CULTURAL REPRODUCTION).

I find So's work very interesting and I would love to promote his upcoming show on this blog spot.

"Clem So continues to exhibit around the South West and has back to back shows in April/May starting with the Immersive Worlds Contemporary Art Exhibition at The Spanish Barn, Torre Abbey Historic House and Gallery The King's Drive, Torquay, TQ2 5JE, 14th-26th April 2011. On display will be some of Clem’s larger works as part of a group exhibition. Included will be some of his videos and his Ancestral Table Installation, ‘Dimsum daily’.

Then from the 26th April, Clem will be showing a Solo exhibition in Exeter based on his portraiture series called :

Clem So: Losing Face

The Exeter Phoenix Bar Gallery, Bradninch Place, Gandy Street, Exeter, EX4 3LS

Tue 26 Apr - Sun 22 May 2011

Gallery Opening Times: MON - SAT: 10am-5pm SUN: 11.30am-5pm. Entry is Free."