Connections 2 (2005)

About the Artist:
Kong Ho utilizes his background as an artist professionally trained in both Chinese and Western painting to teach art as an Assistant Professor of Art and Program Director at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, Pennsylvania. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Ho attended the Chinese University of Hong Kong for his BA in fine arts, 1985, and Texas Tech University in the United States where he earned his MFA in 1994. After graduation Ho returned to Hong Kong and resumed his teaching as a Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong.

Always looking for new ways to inform the public of the educational benefits of art, Ho founded the Hong Kong Mural Society in Hong Kong in June 1997. Although Ho wears a leg brace as a result of polio that he contracted around the time of his first birthday, Ho has boundless energy and enthusiasm when it comes to the physical demands of painting a large outdoor mural. This is why he is undaunted by the challenge of working on scaffoldings that sometimes reach four stories high.

Artist's Statement:
Life is full of contradictions and so is art. Just as with everything else in life, the images in Ho’s art appear to have fluid meanings and even to take on different physical characteristics when one looks carefully at the structure of the work and contemplates the image as a whole. In other words, "things are not what they appear to be." This is because Ho’s work follows the ancient Chinese philosophical belief of Taoism, which is about the balance of Yin-Yang–the order of nature.

Ho derives much of his imagery for his private work from his cultural heritage, and his interest in science and nature. His multi-layering of symbols creates a dynamic surface that contrasts forms, texture, and color. The resulting image instils a sense of tension and drama, integrating the visual concepts of order and disorder.

Exhibitions (Solo):