Metamorphosis IB art exhibition

魚躍龍門 Metamorphosis: a bamboo dragon mid-leap through red paper lanterns, in the exhibition hall
Role
Artist
Context
IBDP Visual Arts exhibition
Media
Papercut, ink, bamboo, balsa
Year
2025

Metamorphosis is my IBDP Visual Arts exhibition. It explores the tension and harmony between digital and analogue: each piece combines modern technology with traditional craftsmanship.

Together they interrogate our inner battle with displacement, and our yearning for resilience. After the show, the pieces were offered to bidders. What will you carry forward?

The exhibition

Paper, ink, bamboo and balsa, on displacement and resilience.

The Metamorphosis exhibition: the bamboo dragon on a black plinth, framed papercuts on white walls and a paper installation behind
Royden sitting on the plinth beneath the bamboo dragon
A hand placing gold papercut koi scales with tweezers on black papercut

Paper: 回紋 Epiphany

An ancestral hall in ink, with gold papercut peonies across its roof.

回紋 Epiphany, February 2025, ink on card, 90 × 30 cm: a framed ink drawing of an ancestral hall with gold papercut peonies
回紋 Epiphany in detail: the tiled roof and brick walls of the hall in ink, gold peonies above
回紋 Epiphany in detail: gold papercut peonies and leaves against the ink roofline

Paper: 毅力 Perseverance

The character for perseverance, cut in paper, with koi swimming through it.

毅力 Perseverance (black), January 2025, textured paper, 53 × 38 cm: a black calligraphic character entwined with gold koi and peonies, framed
毅力 Perseverance (black) in detail: black papercut strokes and gold koi scales
毅力 Perseverance (red) in detail: red papercut strokes with black koi and peonies
毅力 Perseverance (red), January 2025, textured paper, 53 × 38 cm: a red calligraphic character with black koi, framed

Paper: 互助 Reciprocity

Two koi circle each other inside a fret border, cut from one sheet.

互助 Reciprocity (black), February 2025, textured paper, 50 × 50 cm: two koi in a circular fret border, framed
互助 Reciprocity (black) in detail: a koi and a waterside village in black and gold papercut
互助 Reciprocity (red) in detail: two koi in red papercut waves
互助 Reciprocity (red), February 2025, textured paper, 50 × 50 cm: two koi in a red circular fret border, framed

Paper: 行 Introspection

A dragon and koi coiled into one stroke, with crepe paper blooms.

行 Introspection, May 2024, ink on card, balsa and crepe paper, 57 × 90 cm: papercut dragon and koi coiled on a wooden board
行 Introspection in detail: papercut koi scales, a roofline and white crepe paper blooms

Structures: 魚躍龍門 Metamorphosis

The carp that leaps the Dragon Gate becomes a dragon.

魚躍龍門 Metamorphosis, March 2025, bamboo and balsa, 150 × 150 × 230 cm: the dragon on its black plinth with red lanterns
The bamboo dragon's coils around red paper lanterns, painted portraits behind
Visitors pointing up at the bamboo dragon at the opening
The bamboo dragon's head in close-up, strips of bamboo over a red lantern

Structures: 對影 Paired Shadows

A balsa pavilion on stilts, threaded with bare branches.

對影 Paired Shadows, August 2024, balsa wood, 26 × 26 × 65 cm: a pavilion on stilts with bare branches, on a white plinth
對影 Paired Shadows in detail: the pavilion's upturned balsa roofs and lattice

Structures: 檐下 Under the Eaves

Balsa shophouse fronts under a roof of torn paper.

檐下 Under the Eaves, September 2024, balsa, newsprint and crepe paper, 20 × 56 cm: two storeys of shophouse fronts under a torn paper roof
檐下 Under the Eaves from the front: balsa window frames and shutters
檐下 Under the Eaves in detail: the torn paper eaves over the balsa lattice

Connections

  • 回紋 Epiphany, framed ink on card
    回紋 Epiphany
  • 毅力 Perseverance (black), framed papercut
    毅力 Perseverance (black)
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