Dominique Chan
Artist (藝術家)
Kat O (吉澳)
Kat O (吉澳)
“I am an artist based in Kat O, which is pretty much at the edge of Hong Kong and one of the most remote islands. There are fewer than 50 residents here and I am the only foreigner! I met my wife, Gloria, over 50 years ago in Amsterdam and moved to Kat O four years ago because she is originally from here. She was working at a restaurant in Chinatown and I would go for meals and make drawings of her. People will easily recognise where I live because my house is the only one that’s painted from top to bottom with wall murals and bright colours. I really enjoy living on the island - it’s so peaceful and quiet - much better than the wet and cold in Europe! My wife and I built our garden from scratch, with rocks that I collected from the nearby beaches. We also have lemon trees, pomelo trees, tomatoes, frangipane…and a cute but very shy cat. Occasionally we have wild boars roaming around our garden and even snakes - which you will sometimes see appear in my artwork! I like to go for walks in nature and collect wood and stones for my artwork - you can do sculptures, wood carvings or even hand-painted walking poles!”
「我係一個住喺吉澳嘅藝術家，呢度都算係香港嘅邊界，係其中一個最偏遠嘅島嶼。呢度嘅居民唔超過50人，我係唯一一個外國人！我50年前喺阿姆斯特丹識咗我太太 Gloria，我哋四年前搬咗嚟吉澳，因為佢係呢度原居民。佢嗰時喺唐人街一間餐館打工，我就去食嘢同埋為佢畫肖像。我間屋好容易認到，因為我係唯一一間由上至下都畫滿壁畫同埋鮮艷顏色嘅屋。我好鍾意住喺呢個島仔，好寧靜好舒服，比起歐洲又濕又凍嘅天氣，真係好好多！我太太同我一手一腳搭建咗呢個花園，啲石仔係喺附近嘅沙灘搬過嚟嘅。我哋仲有種檸檬樹、碌柚樹、蕃茄同埋雞蛋花，仲有一隻好得意但係好怕羞嘅貓。有時啲野豬會嚟我哋個花園，甚至有蛇，你會見到佢哋有時出現喺我嘅作品㗎！我鍾意喺郊野行吓，收集木頭同埋石頭用嚟做作品，可以做雕塑啦、木刻甚至係自己油顏色嘅行山杖！」
“I grew up in Brittany and started making art when I was just around 7 years old. As a kid, I would always be drawing, doodling and carving all sorts of things out of wood. My mother was from Brittany and my father from Wenzhou, China. Back then, a lot of Chinese people migrated to Marseille to start a new life there. When I was just 7 years old, I lost my mother to tuberculosis. My four siblings and I were separated from young and put into different foster homes. It was a difficult time but I kept creating and making art; I was also very lucky to have a foster family that looked after me really well. I knew I wanted to go to art school eventually, but it was impossible at the time because it was just too expensive. So I kept making art and spent some time on the streets of Paris sketching people. Being an artist is great because you can travel anywhere to work!”
「我喺法國Brittany長大，七歲左右就開始創作。小朋友嗰陣，我成日都喺度畫畫、畫公仔同埋用木雕刻唔同嘅嘢。我媽媽係Brittany嘅人，而我爸爸嚟自中國嘅溫州。嗰陣時，有好多中國人嚟到馬賽去開展新生活。當我只得七歲嗰陣，我媽媽因為結核病過咗身。四個兄弟姊妹同我好細個就分開咗，去咗唔同嘅寄養家庭。嗰時嘅生活好艱難，但係我一直繼續創作同埋做作品，我亦好好彩咁有一個好照顧我嘅寄養家庭。後來我知道自己想去讀藝術，但係嗰時冇可能喇，因為學費實在太貴。所以我繼續做作品，有一段時間喺巴黎嘅街上面畫人像。做藝術家嘅好處，就係你喺咩地方都可以創作！」
“I finally got into art school in Amsterdam when I was 19. In the five years of art school, I didn’t miss a single day of class. I didn’t speak a word of Dutch at the time so it was challenging at first, but I persevered and gradually picked up the language. I knew that I wanted to make a career out of art. I take inspiration from Bonnard, Picasso, Van Gogh, Gauguin…but sometimes when I create art I just go with my feeling and allow the colours and strokes to flow fluidly. Other times I take inspiration from everyday events, nature, people, my wife…and even my cat! I am 72 years old but am still very much young at heart. I’m also happy to be able to make art every day! ”
「終於我喺19歲嘅時候入咗阿姆斯特丹一間藝術學校。五年嘅課程入面，我冇一日走過堂。開頭我一句荷蘭話都唔識講，所以係好困難嘅，但係我堅持，慢慢都學識咗講。我嗰時知道自己想以藝術為事業。我會從波納爾、畢加索、梵高、高更⋯⋯嘅作品度攞靈感，但有時我創作緊嘅時候，我只係會順住自己嘅感覺去，由得啲顏色同埋筆觸自由咁流動。其他時候我會喺日常生活度攞靈感，日常嘅小事呀、大自然、人呀、我太太⋯⋯甚至係我隻貓！我今年72歲，但係心入面仲係好年輕。好開心可以每日創作！ 」
Get in touch to sponsor a story or crowdfund a storytelling campaign!
Special feature story as part of the 2022 edition of the French May Arts Festival