Video Credit to Societe Generale Hong Kong
ANTON POON
Anton Poon is an international contemporary abstract sculptor who seeks to explore concepts of cultural exchange and integration; a subject as an individual who has lived equally in two different cultures and countries strongly resonates with him. He draws his creative ideas from his experiences navigating through these cultures and taking visual inspiration from urban structures that embody the nature of passage and transition such as bridges and tunnels.
His sculptures' physical structure creates spaces and forms, encouraging the public to navigate and interact with each piece and drawing a reflective comparison to the navigation of space and environment in the pursuit of understanding. This pursuit of understanding the nature of place and culture expressed through his chosen medium has continuously led Anton to different creative techniques and diversify in the choice of materials.
Similar to the experience in which Anton has evolved and adapted to the transition between different cultures, his early sculptures exploited the weathering of Corten steel, a material that rusts and changes in tandem with the environment and weather, making the sculpture unique to its home. The characteristics of the material act as a barometer to the location the sculpture is situated in, making the work truly blend with the place.
Anton feels the use of materials and colours are the foundation to better articulate these experiences of place and culture. His recent body of sculptures and low relief pieces aims to reconnect and rebuild a sense of identity and belonging with Hong Kong, a place where he was born yet feels distant. He has challenged himself by using highly contrasting colours, something his earlier works expressly avoided, to describe the bold and confrontative feelings of adapting to his current surroundings and Hong Kong as a place.
Artist statement
My practice investigates concepts of cultural transition and personal identity. My Sculpture uses complex geometric shapes and multi-angled forms to open a dialogue about different cultures and peoples. I have developed this theme
from my experience as a person who lives with an almost dual identity, which comes from a connection shared between two lands of Australia and Hong Kong, each of which is both home and alien. It is living with this precarious sense of identity that drives my practise, both conceptually and physically. The work explores these themes by using abstract and open-ended forms and structures, in tandem with materials that weather and change in response to their environment.