Sze Yuen’s works are characterized by her utilization of elongated scroll formats, executed in charcoal and oil. Sze began her artistic practice in the 1980s, her early paintings encapsulate her interest in news media as well as social and cultural topics. In the early 1990s, Sze engaged herself in academia. Through her affiliation with the Big Tail Elephant Group, she conducted researches and surveys focusing on the theme of self-identity of female artists in Hong Kong and Mainland China active during that time. Sze subsequently developed a course at Hong Kong Polytechnic University titled “Self, Culture and Society” in the late 1990s which connects art and sociology. In the 2010s, Sze redirected her focus towards art making, infusing her work with renewed energy and fresh perspectives. Throughout her artistic practice, Sze is inspired by the format of contact sheets in photography and cinematic sequences, her paintings present a seamless connection of fragmented scenes, culminating into narratives that transcend time and space.
Sze’s solo exhibitions include “Solo · Exhibition · Twice II: Of Seeing” at Blindspot Gallery (Hong Kong, 2023), “First One Woman Show” at City Contemporary Gallery (Hong Kong, 1988) and “Solo-Exhibition-Twice: Joint Exhibition of Yeung Tong Lung and Sze Yuen” at Hong Kong Arts Centre (Hong Kong, 1995). Sze participated in group exhibitions including “The Free Tribe” at Hong Kong Arts Centre (Hong Kong, 2000); “Reckoning with The Past: Contemporary Chinese Painting” touring Fruitmarket Gallery (Edinburgh, 1996), Aberdeen Art Gallery (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1996-97), Fundacao Oriente (Lisbon, 1997), Waikato Museum of Art and History (Hamilton, New Zealand, 1998), and Auckland Art Gallery (Auckland, New Zealand, 1999) among others; “Drawing Show in Big Act in Oil Street” at Oil Street Art Village (Hong Kong, 1999); “New Voices — Contemporary Art From Hong Kong, Taipei and Shanghai” touring Hong Kong Arts Centre (Hong Kong, 1998), and Zhong Zheng Art Gallery under National Taiwan Arts Education Institute (Taipei, 1998) among others, and “Hong Kong Incarnated, Museum 97: History, Community and Museum of Personal Histories. Individual” at Hong Kong Arts Centre (Hong Kong, 1997).
Sze currently lives and works in Hong Kong.
