Rong Bao likes to offer audiences a sensory playground, mischievously inviting spectators to re-see familiar everyday objects. In an industry often bound by political and cultural expectations, Rong Bao’s first major Saatchi gallery exhibition earlier this year, itself, became one of those intriguing objects, encouraging fresh interpretations and experiences of how art can be. Through her work, Bao challenges our perceptions of the physical world and highlights the absurdity of posing order on society.
Yellow Path pathway, Rong Bao’s latest endeavour, features alongside 8 other woman artists in a collaborative exhibition MARY MARY presented by theCOLAB and the Artists Garden. Together they positively reframe the characterisation of forceful women as “contrary,” as depicted in the famous nursery rhyme, whilst at the same time exploring and subverting architectural and historical aspects of the Garden, proposing a new and rich sculptural language for public space.
This environment offers an ideal backdrop for Rong Bao’s artistry and its meaning to evolve as various audiences interact with her work, emphasising her openness to change and her unconcern for rigid definitions and ideologies.
Enclose, 2021. Photo: Yuhao Chen
Your work has both a creative, childlike observation, as well as a refined critical eye. How do these two qualities you possess interact with each other when art making?
I would like to answer this question with a clichéd fable. At the end of the story The Emperor’s New Clothes, a child shouts out, “But he isn’t wearing anything!” The child’s perspective is often the most honest and straightforward. Yet, precisely because of this honesty, their view is also the sharpest and most critical. This childlike purity and stubborn sincerity are filled with idealism, but at the same time, they can be piercing and harsh.
Your public installation that opened on 3rd October appears to reference the sense of touch through upraised dots that look like braille. If you could invent another sense, what would it be, and what would you name it?
If I could invent a new sense, I’d call it Chronoception, allowing people to feel the texture of time and experience each moment as something tangible.
How and where did your art practice begin?
My mother sent me to learn painting when I was very young. If we’re talking about learning painting techniques, I would say it started in my kindergarten drawing class. From as far back as I can remember, I’ve always had a strong curiosity about the world and a desire to express myself. My artistic practice began with childhood explorations of the world around me. I loved taking things apart and reassembling them, and I enjoyed thinking and imagining the birth of the universe and the meaning of human existence. I believe it was this intense curiosity about the world that led me to the path of artistic creation.
It's so exciting that your artwork, which breaks away from the mainstream, resonated so deeply with Lily Wateron, leading her to curate a show for it at the Saatchi Gallery earlier this year. How do you think the contemporary art world and its approach to curation are shifting in today's era?
I am deeply grateful to Lily for discovering and selecting me, as art should not cater to specific political or cultural expectations. However, nowadays, art and artists seem to have to meet certain social or political standards to gain recognition. But I believe that true art should be free and not bound by any form of dogma or rules. I hope that future art curation can be more open and inclusive, allowing all voices to be heard, rather than being guided by some mainstream ideology, becoming more inclusive and diverse.
What famous artwork would you love to remix in your style?
I would love to remix Salvador Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory, transforming the melting clocks into interactive sculptures that invite people to physically experience the flow of time.
What do you want to celebrate or uncover through your artwork?
I hope to celebrate human existence through my art. The mere fact that humans exist is a miracle.
MARY MARY, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Gardens have a way of telling stories through their seasons and growth. How do you think the work in your upcoming MARY MARY exhibition will bloom and change over time?
In the MARY MARY exhibition, my work is like a garden that grows with changes in time and environment. As different audiences come and interact with the work, their reactions will continually influence its meaning and presentation. Especially in public spaces, the artwork is not just a static object, but a constantly evolving experience. Through the shifts of seasons, natural erosion, and even traces left by the audience's actions, I hope the work, like a plant, gradually reveals its unique vitality and resilience, telling stories of time, space, and social interaction.
How has studying at RCA helped and supported your practice?
RCA has provided me with the freedom to explore in my practice, while also encouraging critical thinking that has helped me grow into a more mature artist. At the same time, the RCA platform has attracted the attention of many curators in the art world, which has been very helpful in launching my artistic career.
If you could collaborate with any fictional character on an art project, who would it be and what would you create together?
I want to collaborate with Doraemon because he has a ton of magical gadgets and is practically omnipotent, fulfilling any request. I’d love to peek into the future with him.
Enclose, 2021. Photo: Yuhao Chen
Enigma, 2023
Pink Roundabout, 2024
Fragile, 2023
Strike, 2020