Preface

Perhaps you find the experience of waiting a laborious, unmoving exercise. However, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea redefines this concept. According to the famous novella, the word “waiting” actually encapsulates emotions and significance far beyond our general understanding. 

Waiting, for many people, is an arduous exercise, or a meaningless activity more akin to stagnation. If you choose to stay in one place during the creative process, time will likely slip through your fingertips. Only by continuously pursuing our artistic goals can we discover what unknown possibilities lie out there.

In fact, the unknown presents us with endless challenges and finally leads us to hope. Hence, waiting is an act of faith. Faith empowers us during the creative process, meaning that we no longer live or work in fear. We have come to realise that waiting is a form of persistence. Everything and everybody we face as we wait witnesses our own self-identity. It could be said that everything that happens while we wait captures the essence of our self-identity. This is the case for any artist who is engaged in the creative process. They repeatedly wait for inspiration, for ideas to take shape, for the art to form and for the finished piece or concept. Throughout, waiting is crucial for an artist. It is an act of faith.

This exhibition features contemporary artworks by 16 young artists from Macao. The pieces on show range from Western paintings to 3D installations. An array of media – oil paintings, acrylic, digital photography, mixed media and pottery – is on display. These works are the product of the long “waiting” process experienced by each of the local artists. The pieces represent a deep sense of humanity in their various forms. I believe these artworks are simply junctions that are created during the long waiting process. Having faith in this waiting process, however, will certainly bring endless possibilities to all of us.

Leong Sin Teng

Curator