Reframing Strangeness: Ha Bik Chuen’s Motherboards and Collagraphs

To celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of Hong Kong artist Ha Bik Chuen, Para Site is hosting an exhibition on his printmaking practices. ‘Motherboard’ is what Ha calls his collagraph plates – a textured surface with materials attached that is inked and used to transfer designs onto paper or other mediums. Throughout his life, Ha created over 100 motherboards to produce more than 3,000 collagraph prints mostly during the 70s and 80s. His motherboards were kept from public view, until now. See Ha’s creatures combined with ancient Chinese oracle bone script, modern Chinese characters, and the Roman alphabet on motherboards, displayed alongside their ‘offspring’ collagraphs and drawings.