MAN MEI TO
BIOGRAPHY
MAN MEI-TO 文美桃
(b.1990)
Man’s artworks tell stories with materials as the point of departure, and delves into various mediums on a technical level. Through observing the intimacy of the body, she explores urban vistas, life under urbanisation, and transient things. Her works aim to raise awareness of the existence of all kinds of beings as well as the connections between their fragility and silence by objectifying, cloning, reconstructing, or quantifying elements found in everyday life.
Mei-to Man is currently studying for a Master's degree in MFA(Sculpture) at the Slade School of Art, University College London. Man obtained her Bachelor of Arts at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT)and Hong Kong Arts School in 2017, majoring in painting. Man is the selected artist of Tai Kwun Contemporary Artists' Studio Residency 2021. Man has held a number of solo exhibitions since 2016, including “Laundry Shop” (A walk with A3, Hong Kong, 2016), “The Distance of Space” (Floating Projects, Hong Kong, 2018), and “Sediment and Undercurrent” (ACO Art Space, Hong Kong, 2019). She has also participated in numerous local and international group exhibitions, including “The29th Asian International Art Exhibition” (Kyushu Geibun-kan, Fukuoka, Japan, 2021), “Ensemble” (VT Artsalon, Taipei, 2017), “Primitive Sense Art festival” (Omachi City, Nagano, Japan, 2016), “Spinning East Asia Series II: A Compass in Hand”( CHAT- Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile, Hong Kong, 2022), “Big wind blows” (Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong, 2020), “The Spaces Between the Words Are Almost Infinite” (Gallery EXIT, Hong Kong, 2020) and “Zoo as Metaphor (2)”(Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, Hong Kong, 2018), among others.
In addition to artistic creation, she has also curated and found different art-related communities and events. She recently co-curated “A Page A Wish" in 2019-2020, a series of community art projects on the theme of food in "Oi!", which aims to let the public experience the possibility of integrating art and life. In 2016, Man established “The Mother Tuck Shop” in HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity and worked there as a food educator/chef. Back then, Man participated in kick-starting various projects in the Northern part of Hong Kong. In 2013, She co-founded "Local Made Productions" and "Field Side Stories", which document the development of land, struggles, art and changes in the lives of villagers in Northeast New Territories. She also Co-founded "To Yau" in 2015, a living practice space in Wah Shan Village, Sheung Shui, for urbanites to reflect on the existence of urban-rural coexistence.
文氏的創作以物料出發來講述事件或事情，並從技術層面延伸各種媒介，其作品主題由身體的親密性遊走到城市的景觀，探究城市化的生活與消逝的事物。物化、複製、重塑以及量化的方式，令觀衆從新的角度注視人、生物與死物，並關注其脆弱性與沉默性之間的關聯。
文美桃於2017年獲皇家墨爾本理工大學及香港藝術學院藝術學士學位，主修繪畫。自2016年起舉辦了數場個人展覽：《洗衣店》 （A walk with A3，香港）、《彼岸之地》(據點．句點，香港）及《沈積暗湧》（艺鵠藝術空間，香港）。2021年駐留大館藝術家工作室。她的作品亦曾於國內外的群展中展出，如 《原始感覺藝術祭 – 2016》（大町市，日本），《類聚集》（非常廟藝文空間，台北）， 《第二十九屆亞洲國際美術展覽會》（日本福岡九州藝文館，日本），《再紡東亞系列二：手中的羅盤》(CHAT 六廠紡織文化藝術館, 香港)，《像是動物園(2)》（香港醫學博物館, 香港），《大風吹》（Rossi & Rossi，香港）及《字裡行間》（安全口畫廊，香港）等等。
文氏從事藝術創作外，亦曾實踐於策展。2019年建立「黑月」並於(2021）年取得「灣仔區議會」贊助策劃了《還原基本步 : 料理・藝術本事》社區藝術活動，團隊以「吃」X 「社區」的藝術項目，連結公眾結合社區元素，與社區人士分享藝術家對料理食物的觀察和思考角度。聯合策劃項目（2020-2021）《視覺博物誌》「Arts Go Digital藝術數碼平台」計劃以藝術家影像作為主線反思影像的生產、製造和透過影像去觀察世界方式的網上平台 及（2019- 2020）《還原頁》，於「油街實現」以食物為題的一系列社區藝術項目，讓公眾體驗藝術與生活結合的可能性。（2016- 2017）創辦《食母堂》創辦人之一，在「香港兆基創意書院」以廚師的角色介入學生日常生活。（2014- 2015 ）聯合創辦「土丘」，於上水華山村開放生活實踐空間給城市人反思城鄕共生的存在性。（2013- 2014）共同創辦「土地影像製作」和「田邊故事」，記錄香港新界東北土地發展、抗爭、藝術與村民的生活改變。如何從城市規劃中令城鄉共生，是作為城市人的大課題。