Wing Po So was born into a family of Chinese medicine doctors and grew up surrounded by medicinal ingredients, transforming them into raw materials for playthings and eventually artworks. When nature turns into medicinal ingredients, they are often cut into pieces, worm bitten, burnt, and incomplete. So’s works deal with this kind of alienation towards nature and our living environment. Incorporating pharmacological herbs and daily objects into large-scale installations and sculptures, So weaves Chinese medical and philosophical thinking into wonders that reconstruct the correlation of matter and being. Seeing that traditional Chinese medicine originates in observation, sensitivity and imagination towards nature, So applies the same theory of knowledge in her investigation of forms, materiality, and relationality.
So had a solo exhibition at Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong, titled “Six-part Practice” (2018). Another recent solo exhibition is “From the Body to the Body Through the Body” (2019) at de Sarthe, Hong Kong. Her work has also been widely exhibited in group shows, including “Kathmandu Triennale 2077” (Nepal, 2022), “One Garden Six Seasons” (Para Site, Hong Kong, 2020), and “Holy Mosses” (Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong, 2019). Her recent works were covered by Art Asia Pacific, Artomity, The Art Newspaper, City Magazine, Time Out Magazine, South China Morning Post, and Ming Pao Newspaper. She also published an artist book in 2018, titled From Space to Space: An Illustrated Guide to an Infinite Something.
So currently lives and works in Hong Kong.
View CV here.
蘇詠寶成長於傳統中醫學世家，自幼接觸各種藥材。擅以其熟悉的中醫藥材及日常物創作大型裝置和雕塑，將草藥從兒時的玩物，轉化成現在她藝術創作的主要媒介。當自然物成為藥用材料，它們往往被抽乾水份、斬斷切片、燒焦、蟲蛀，蘇氏的作品處理這種對自然和環境的陌生感和疏離感。從植物草藥、昆蟲、岩石、到人類器官和內臟，蘇氏的創作圍繞自然界的各種生命，透露她對生命結構、生存體系的探索。中醫學源於對自然的觀察、探索以及想像，她的藝術創作便是建立於此精神上，以探討萬物的生成、物質性和關係性。
蘇曾於香港大館當代美術館創作名為「六種練習」的個人展覽(2018)。最近個展包括“由體而始，至體而成，自體而過”，德薩畫廊(2019);聯展包括尼泊爾的 “加德滿都三年展2077”(2022)、香港Para Site藝術空間的“一園六季”(2020)及刺點畫廊的“聖青苔”(2019)。在2018年，蘇詠寶出版了藝術家書籍《微物萬狀》。蘇的作品亦曾於亞太藝術雜誌、藝源、號外雜誌、明報、The Art Newspaper、Time Out 雜誌、南華早報中刊出。
蘇現於香港生活及工作。