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23 Mar 2023 / by Or Ka Uen

Wilson Shieh’s Paper Dolls

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration portrays a man with a race bib running beside a mountain. Other runners, the sea, and mountains are in the background. Excepting the man, the drawing is in green.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Haruki Murakami, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

The body has always been inextricably linked with clothing and identity, and this connection is perfectly captured in the nostalgic paper doll. Made of paper or thin cardboard, these toy dolls are usually printed with characters in their underwear and are accompanied by cutout clothes, shoes, and accessories that fit over their bodies. Those who play with these paper dolls can act as stylists and change the characters’ outfits as they wish. Wilson Shieh developed his Fitting Room series by combining his love for drawing characters with the paper-doll concept. The figures in this series are able to transform their identities by changing into different outfits, reflecting Shieh’s desire to break free from the past to create something new.

Acrylic painting on canvas with paper collage depicting seven women with identical figures standing in a line, each wearing a different outfit and hairstyle, identified by individual titles such as ‘Flowers of Shanghai’, ‘Hong Kong 1940’s’ and ‘Father Takes a Bride’.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. Eileen Chang and Her Characters, 2009. Acrylic on canvas and collage on paper. M+, Hong Kong. © Wilson Shieh

In 2007, after more than a decade of training in gongbi—a Chinese realist painting technique—Shieh reflected on his artistic career and was determined to make some changes. He moved his studio to Fo Tan with the hopes of starting afresh in an unfamiliar environment. He then sought out new artistic inspiration and techniques, setting himself a five-year plan to experiment beyond the gongbi style that he was already familiar with. What resulted from these explorations is Shieh’s Fitting Room series. For this series, he first used acrylic paints to create characters and costumes on canvases that measured three to four feet. He then photographed the paintings and printed them on foot-long sheets of paper before cutting out the shapes of the characters and clothes and pasting them on coloured-pencil backgrounds. For Shieh, this new artmaking method resembled the process of changing one’s clothing in the sense that he shed his old habit of gongbi and ink painting to embrace a fresh ‘outfit’ involving sketches, acrylic paints, and coloured pencils. Beneath this style change, however, what remained the same was that painting continued to be the foundation of Shieh’s practice.

Ink painting on paper of six versions of the same woman in a row against a blank background. Each version is identical except for clothing and hairstyle. The version furthest to the right has grey hair.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. Eileen Chang and Her Characters, 2009. Ink on paper. M+, Hong Kong. © Wilson Shieh

Fitting Room started with a focus on famous personalities. Costume changes turn Chow Yun-fat and Maggie Cheung into different movie characters, while Eileen Chang is transformed into the protagonists from her own stories. By putting on different outfits, these cultural icons can immediately invent new personas for themselves. These created identities, however, are separated from each individual’s true self and disappear as soon as their clothes are removed. In The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh, however, the concept of identity formation takes on a different path, as the focus shifts from famous figures to the artist himself.

Acrylic painting on canvas depicting four rows of figures dressed in a range of garments and costumes against a pink-mauve background. The figure in the middle of the second row is nude and surrounded by a decorative circle. A title in Chinese and English text accompanies each figure.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh, 2010. Acrylic on canvas. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Also part of the Fitting Room series, The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh is divided into two parts. The first part features images of several paper dolls painted in acrylic on canvas against a pink background. Near the centre of the work, a nude figure is rendered in crimson in an oval frame. Shieh’s birth year appears in the frame, identifying the figure as the artist himself. This central character is surrounded by the outfits of sixteen different people, including Chuang-tzu, I. M. Pei, Feng Zikai, Antonio Mak, Richard Lam, and Haruki Murakami. These individuals have all had a deep influence on Shieh during the artist’s various life stages between the ages of eight and thirty-nine.

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. In the illustration, a man in a traditional Chinese purple robe and with butterfly wings flies above a flowering tree. Excepting the man, the drawing is in blue.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Chuang-Tzu/Zhuang Zi, 2010.
Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. In the illustration, a man in a brown garment holds a sabre, facing a baby lying on a leaf on the ground. Excepting the man in brown, the drawing is in green.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Xie Xun the Golden-haired Lion King from The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber by Jin Yong, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration portrays a child wearing a red bib standing over a tiger with a woman on the viewer's right. Excepting the child, the drawing is in purplish grey.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Ukiyo-E, Kintaro, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration portrays a village scene. Swine surround a figure wearing a blue chaperon and brown tunic with flowers in his outstretched hands. Excepting the figure, the drawing is in pink.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Pieter Bruegel Netherlandish Proverbs, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration shows a sculpture of a figure holding a goblet in its right hand with a faun by its left hand. Excepting the sculpture, the drawing is in magenta.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Bacchus by Michelangelo, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. In the illustration, a figure in a blue coat with a red lining holds a sword, standing on a ground filled with roses. Excepting the figure, the drawing is in red.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. In the illustration, a man in a checked shirt stands near a gate with a group of men behind. Excepting the man in the checked shirt, the drawing is in brown.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Jimmy Somerville of Bronski Beat, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration shows two men in a classical courtyard. The bespectacled man on the viewer's right holds a picture of a pyramid. Excepting the bespectacled man, the drawing is in umber.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──I. M. Pei, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration shows a headless figure holding a scythe with a clock tower behind. Birds surround a head on the ground. Excepting the figure and head, the drawing is in turquoise.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Hou Chun-Ming Hsing-Tien, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration shows a man with a cigarette between his lips, sculpting a small figure with dark brown scales on the table. Excepting the brown-scaled figure, the drawing is in orange.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Antonio Mak, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration shows a running figure with dragon tattoos on his upper body and huts and trees in the background. Excepting the figure, the drawing is in russet.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Shi Jin the Nine Tattooed Dragon from Heros in the Water Margin illustrated by Chen Hong Shou, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. In the illustration, a man with a queue holds a folded fan and stands on a boat in the sea. Excepting the man, the drawing is in blue.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Shen Fu Six Chapters of A Floating Life, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration portrays a man with aviator glasses and blue slippers in a room with bookshelves and vinyl records on the floor. Excepting the man, the drawing is in burnt sienna.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Richard Lam, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. In the illustration, a man sings into a microphone with a guitarist, bassist, and drummer playing behind. Excepting the singer, the drawing is in black.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Ian Curtis of Joy Division, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

Coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard featuring an illustration with Chinese and English titles above and narrative texts below. The illustration portrays a fan being made in spring, used in summer, hung in autumn, and blown by wind in winter. Excepting the man fanning himself in summer, the drawing is in black.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Feng Zikai, 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

The second part of The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh encompasses sixteen drawings made with coloured pencils and printing ink on boards. In each drawing, a well-groomed Shieh dressed as the sixteen people shown in the acrylic painting appears against a coloured-pencil background accompanied by a 200-word description handwritten in Chinese and English. In one of the drawings, Shieh transforms into the Chinese philosopher Chuang-tzu in his famous butterfly dream.

Detail of a coloured pencil drawing on archival cardboard. Text written by Wilson Shieh detail how he came across the philosophy of Chuang-Tzu/Zhuang Zi, and how it inspires him in his art-making.

Wilson Shieh Ka-ho. The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh──Chuang-Tzu/Zhuang Zi (detail), 2010. Coloured pencil and printing ink on archival board. M+, Hong Kong. © Courtesy of the Artist and Osage Gallery

In the text below the image, Shieh explains how this allegory subverts the logic of everyday life and ‘opens up space for imagination’, adding that this enlightening lesson from Chuang continued to make an impact on his artistic career throughout the years. In this sense, not only does Shieh step into someone else’s shoes, he drapes himself in their entire outfits in an attempt to see the world from their perspectives. Unlike the celebrity-focused works in the series, dressing up here is no longer a matter of external appearances but rather a process of shaping one’s internal thoughts and behaviour, and the lessons learned during this journey of self-discovery may have a lifelong impact.

Illustrating the shifts from external appearances to internal reflection and from roleplaying characters to constructing a self-identity, the paper dolls in the artist’s Fitting Room series are sublimated into a matter of deeper philosophical contemplation with The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh.

The Chinese version of this article was originally published on 1 February 2023 in Ming Pao. It is presented here in edited and translated form. Originally authored by Or Ka Uen, translated by Lijie Wang, and edited by Dorothy So.

Or Ka Uen
Or Ka Uen
Or Ka Uen

Or Ka Uen is Associate Editor at M+.

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