KWAI FUNG HIN ART GALLERY G/F, 20 ICE HOUSE STREET, CENTRAL, HONG KONG SZETO LAP (Born 1949, China) In looking at Szeto Lap's works one of the first and most prominent reactions is an absolute, permeating sense of sublime tranquility. Lap's pieces are saturated in contradictions. There is an airiness in his images, but also a gravity, a heaviness; they are silent, but one may hear the loudness in that silence; they are utterly still yet there is an energy, a sliver of vibration coursing through them. In today's world, where society demands that everything from music to movies to food to clubs to art be larger, louder, more extravagant and pretentious than ever, creating a body of work based on a quiet philosophy of life, truth and harmony is a rare and brave thing to do. Szeto Lap is able to convey the same sense of peace and self-contemplation in all his pieces. He is able to surmount the limitations while at the same time exploit the properties of his media of oils, watercolours and charcoals in order to create and sustain a ubiquitous aesthetic throughout his work. Another striking feature of Lap's work is the sense of solitariness. Whether he is portraying a scene of plants or a small corner of a room or even a vast landscape, Lap never includes a human figure. In allowing the viewer to contemplate his images in such an eremetic condition he creates an ambiance that facilitates a meditation on both the image and oneself. Ultimately the viewers transcend this feeling of isolation and begin to perceive a vital connection that extends between each object of the image and themselves, thereby forging a serene sense of sublime oneness.