17/06/2026
Artist tells us about creating works for Reimaginings in response to objects from our collection. 💥 👀
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Transcript:
EB: How did particular objects from our collection inspire the pieces you created?
HL: There were a few objects that I was instantly drawn to. There’s this amazing yellow and blue dragon plate that instantly caught my eye. I think the colour combination is just so striking, and it’s also something that I’d not really used before in my own practice. I knew with this show that I really wanted to create some works that felt different, but also explored different making processes, different colours. That was a work that I knew that I wanted to make straight away, so I created a s***f bottle that was inspired by that particular plate. There’s also these amazing cloud motifs on the plate that are throughout this s***f bottle design – there’s loads of very flowy clouds on the lid of the s***f bottle. I also wanted to really emulate the super vibrant striking blue that you see on the plate. And so, I experimented quite a lot with different types of chalks to create this really zingy blue that I’ve never really created before – so I’m pretty pleased with that work!
There’s also this amazing Qing dynasty lacquerware red box that has four horses on the front. I created a s***f bottle that has this fiery horse on the front, and I wanted to emulate some of the detailing that you get in the lacquerware - there are these beautifully carved waves (I think they’re waves, they could also be clouds, possibly), and I’ve tried to emulate that on the lid of the s***f bottle, but also around the other parts. Also, the shape of the horse as well is very much emulated on this s***f bottle.
There’s also this white and pink s***f bottle I created that’s inspired by this amazing white and pink Peking glass cup that’s just so delicate and intricate. And I do think the s***f bottle captures that detail as well. And when they sit next to each other in the cabinet, you can really just
