Reo Ma (b. 1992) manifests his ideas via creative impulses and a lack of inhibitions. Without any formal art training, he approaches art-making like an inventor, experimenting with materials and techniques as he learns through blunders and mistakes. On view at Rossi & Rossi Hong Kong from 27 July to 14 September, Ma’s first solo exhibition, gok3/gaau3, features multimedia assemblages and installations that weave themes of childhood, identity and the tension between the individual and the group. The presentation’s title refers to the romanisation of the Chinese word 覺, with gok3 meaning ‘awakening’ and gaau3denoting ‘slumber’.

In the industrial area of Hong Kong’s Wong Chuk Hang neighbourhood, the artist often collects discarded materials with which he creates new forms. By incorporating rough wood and rusting metal into his works, Ma cautions viewers to keep a safe distance, as the weathered condition of the materials recalls their abandonment. His works also include leather, a nod to his background in fashion design. Soft skin therefore contrasts with hard edges, such as in Crazy Horse(2024), an assemblage of horsehide, metal and wood. In it, visible metal screws and nails fasten pieces of wood to form an anatomically accurate, yet Frankenstein-like, horse’s head. By rejecting the conformist outlook, he simultaneously rejects uniformity as a mechanism of the world.‍

Gallery address: 11F, M Place, 54 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Wong Chuk Hang