Lotus Family by Tim Yip

Lotus Family 1992, Australia Print on Hahnemuhle Baryta Paper (framed), 80 x 53 cm “There is a famous scene in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon directed by Ang Lee: Chow Yun-fat chases Zhang Ziyi as the two leap across the lake’s surface with lightness skill, their feet skimming over blankets of lotus leaves. I served as the art and costume director for this film, and I went to great lengths to achieve the lotus pond effect Ang Lee envisioned. I never said ‘no’ to any of the director’s set design requests, always replying ‘Sure, sure, it’s fine.’ But it was only after that experience that I realized just how difficult it was to bring a lotus pond to life on screen. Initially, we asked the props team to procure a large number of lotus plants, yet they required a long period of cultivation before blooming. In the end, we had no choice but to film the scene with the two actors leaping over clear lake water instead.The lotuses in this photograph had not yet bloomed into the effect we desired. I chose to render it in black and white because I wanted the reality captured in my lens to carry meaning; monochrome lends an abstract quality to these otherwise concrete, tangible lotus plants.” - Tim Yip This work is part of MIRROR OF THE META: Incredible Reality, a solo exhibition at Asprey Studio by Hong Kong-born artist and art director Tim Yip. The exhibition explores parallel dimensions of reality where myth, memory and technology meet. It offers an intimate, contemplative encounter with Yip’s sculptural works, photography, and a sculptural reinterpretation of a traditional Chinese dress — each piece reflecting the artist’s enduring fascination with how imagination shapes our experience of the world. Tim Yip (b. 1961, Hong Kong) is an acclaimed artist, director, art director, costume designer and photographer for film and stage. He won the Oscar for Best Art Direction, and the BAFTA award for Best Costume Design for the film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (dir. Ang Lee, 1999). Through his prolific works in art, film, theatre and literature, Tim Yip has honed his thesis New Orientalism, which proposes that-far from being determined-supposed boundaries of geography and time are porous.