Bianca Tse
(Exhibited at ‘Voices of the Walls’ at Blue Lotus Gallery, November 2024)
Bianca Tse, ‘Breathing Space’, Hong Kong 2024 (AI image)
About Bianca Tse
Bianca, born and raised in 1980s Hong Kong, combines her expertise in visual communication with a deep passion for documentary work. Growing up in a Temporary Housing Area, she developed a strong connection to the themes of chaotic urban life and poverty. Her fascination with the history of Kowloon Walled City and her hometown fuels her artistic vision.
Bianca's style is rooted in storytelling, weaving together Hong Kong's collective memories with the limitless possibilities of AI as a creative medium. By blending authentic history with imagination, she creates a captivating juxtaposition between the familiar and the extraordinary, breathing life into forgotten narratives and presenting them in a unique light.
Bianca Tse, ‘The Bird Man and the Cages Homes’, Hong Kong 2023 (AI Image)
Bianca Tse, ‘The Rooftop Children,’ Hong Kong 2023 (AI Image)
As per the artist: “The Kowloon Walled City was demolished in 1994 when I was just 12, so I never had the chance to visit. I first discovered the Walled City through the PlayStation adventure game Kowloon’s Gate in 1997, which was inspired by the location. The game reminded me of the temporary housing neighbourhood where I grew up. My family of five lived in a 100-square-foot metal-sheeted “hut” with a bunk bed. The poverty and cramped conditions fostered a connection to the Walled City, drawing me into its unique world. This curiosity prompted me to research further, and the book by Greg and Ian had a profound impact on me. Initially, I used AI as a creative outlet, but over time, I began to see it as a time machine to help reimagine the past and keep the Walled City’s story alive.”
From time to time, when having a conversation about what it was like to photograph in the Kowloon Walled City, the question often comes up whether I have a favourite or most memorable image. Talking with Bianca I mentioned to her that there was indeed an image I can't get out of my head, but it happened to be something I saw and wasn't able to make a photograph of.
I'd seen a Cathay Pacific stewardess, in the distinctive red Cathay uniform, alight from a taxi and, pulling her suitcase behind her, walk into one of the Walled City's alleyways. It was a surprising scene to stumble across, the Walled City wasn't the sort of place you expected to see Cathay cabin crew living, though the proximity to the airport was unbeatable. I raced to follow her into the alley but she disappeared before I could make a picture. I never saw that scene again, of a Cathay crew member, uniformed and perfectly groomed, heading into the Walled City, and so it's kind of burned into my memory as "the one that got away".
Bianca managed to translate that memory into one of her AI augmented images that so delicately and uncannily balances the real, the remembered and the imagined.
– Greg Girard about Bianca’s photograph
“The use of artificial intelligence to create art has become increasingly controversial, with artists expressing concern that their work can be used to train AI models without compensation. While Tse agrees, she said AI tools like Midjourney have also allowed her to make works that would be otherwise impossible.
“I don’t need to hire actors, I don’t need to set up all the scenes, and, yeah, it saves a lot of time, and mainly money, because nobody is going to invest in me to create all of these (pieces),” she said. The technology has opened up a new world for Tse, a freelance advertising creative director, who has been posting her AI experiments on Instagram.”
Press Received:
2024/5 Madame Figaro : 專訪藝術家Bianca Tse：以AI畫作建構平衡時空中的九龍城寨
2024/11 The Guardian: Noodles, AI skyscraping and survival: inside Kowloon Walled City – in pictures
2025/1 CNN: The artist creating mind-bending images of an alternate Hong Kong through AI
Exhibition History:
Rencontres d’Arles ‘A State of Consciousness’, Arles, France 3-14 July 2023, Galerie La Grande Vitrine
Digital Art Fair Asia Edition 2023 | Web Art 3.0 Art Week, Hong Kong 19-23 October 2023, K11 Museum
“Voices Of The Walls’, Kowloon Walled City Explored, Blue Lotus Gallery, 17 October - 2 December 2024
Prints by Bianca Tse are available as limited edition fine art prints, signed and edition numbered by the artist from HK$ 5,800 onwards depending on size. We can ship internationally.
Please contact us at info@bluelotus-gallery.com or complete the form below if you wish to receive more information.
