Coffee bubbles having a smiley face? Electrical socket looking astonished? Tree rings appearing like a puppy? All these are examples of the psychological phenomenon known as “Pareidolia”, where the human mind tends to seek familiar patterns and thus often associates random images with faces or animals. Renowned local photography artist David Leung has taken Pareidolia as the theme of his artistic journey and created symmetrical visuals out of his food and landscape photographs, unveiling the hidden surreal faces in the scene.

David’s solo exhibition, titled “見餐不是餐: see food NOT see food”, has drawn inspiration from the ancient Zen saying, “See mountains as mountains; See mountains as no mountains; See mountains remain being mountains (見山是山, 見山不是山, 見山仍是山)”, which illustrates the 3 stages of perceiving reality: First, people see things as they are. Second, people interpret the meanings behind the things they see. Delving into the second stage, David sees and uncovers the lively faces in the most ordinary food with his one-of-a-kind perspective. In this exhibition, apart from his iconic series “BEASTS FROM FEASTS”, David has collaborated with various parties for the first time and created 4 brand-new collections, all presented in unique ways that resonate with the themes of the images.

Gallery address: Shop 207, Level 2, Ocean Centre, Harbour City, TST