A prize for out-of-the-box thinking

Different strokes

Fung, who took home the Vogue Hong Kong award, was shortlisted last year as well. For her winning piece, she recycled a block of wood carving, using Chinese ink and color pencils to dress it up. The piece is a manifestation of a "lifelong project to portray a futuristic world," Fung says. "There are so many elements in the works: the sky, the dragon and elephants, mille fleurs background and red bean motifs," Fung says. "Each tells a story of Polluta." According to Fung's website, Polluta is a fictional "futuristic ecotopian/dystopian artist colony" created as a result of air pollution.

Ho Sin-tung, also from Hong Kong, was shortlisted. Her entry, What Can I Hold You With, is a pencil drawing on paper, showing two Muay Thai fighters locked in combat against a natural backdrop. The artist draws from her own experience of practicing Muay Thai in different parks of Hong Kong at a time when gyms were off-limits because of the pandemic-related restrictions. She hopes that viewers will find "a common language and framework" in her depiction of martial arts, and share her journey in the process.

Noormah Jamal from Pakistan made the shortlist as well. Called Did the Seed Grow?, her acrylic-on-canvas painting shows two figures holding potted plants in their hands, sitting on a brick wall, with a fire burning in the foreground. The artist says that the vacant expressions on the faces of her subjects underscore the fact that no attempt is being made to engage the viewer's attention.