Edward Tsui

Bio

Edward Tsui lives and works in Toronto, Canada. He studied visual arts in Hong Kong before completing architectural studies in Manchester, England. Over time, he has immersed himself as a visual artist primarily engaging in cement castings from molds and different media. With three-dimensionality, Edward expresses his preoccupations on how the human condition impacts the built-environment, and vice versa. Moreover, he seeks to explore the primordial responses people have on architecture and how nature reacts upon the built forms. Buildings, according to him, resonant with signs that are imbued with signifieds. They have stories to be told.

Artist Statement

The built environment, whether it is architecture, interior space, building parts or in a larger context, the urban form, has always been fascinating to me. From architecture to visual arts, my passion on the subject has manifested itself with increased vehemence. For me, artworks free themselves from pragmatism without sacrificing on polemics. They are vehicles that warrant more possibilities on emotional as much as cognitive explorations. My works dissect archetypes in architecture, urban landscapes and nature, breaking them down to re-emerge as mixed media sculptures. Through this process, I encourage the audience to look at their surroundings in different light. It is the unlearning of this familiarity, making room for new ways of seeing and interacting with buildings that intrigue me.

My investigations can be followed along three streams, namely ‘Follies’, ‘Genius Loci’ and ‘Homage’. ‘Follies’ examines on how buildings or different archetypal elements like staircase, door or column that can be broken down and reshaped to express their meanings. It is the subversion of existing architectural languages that drives new thoughts. On ‘Genius Loci’, I construe visions of cityscapes, real or imaginary places in ways that challenge viewers’ collective mind and stimulate dialogues. ‘Homage’ comprises works that pay tributes to great buildings with heightened awareness and in renewed contexts.

Birth of Works

Cement, ubiquitously found in buildings, is Edward’s principal medium in his art. These works might be realized with mixed materials. It is by means of casting from silicone molds that the audience sees his works. Since 2019, he has been making this plastic art form using silicone molds based on sketches and handmade originals.

It is his conscious decision to produce handmade works rather than using 3D printing. The idea is much more attractive not only because of the human touch. The textures imprinted from materials on each ‘mother piece’ are particularly enticing. The entire process of idea inception, sketching, building the ‘mother piece’, making mold, pouring and assembling often takes months. Each piece is unique given the pouring process. This might be the result of cement mixture, pigment ratio or casting conditions. Buyers should not expect to find machine-like finishes on the artworks. The individuality of these natural finishes is by no means defects. And for all its hype, AI is not involved in any process; and rest assured, if it is adopted in future, it would only be a means not an end.

This is a small studio with big heart on architecture related artworks. The artist chooses a limited edition format on his works since he believes that this is a more egalitarian way of art appreciation. It is his preference to open up works to more collectors instead of following the ‘one piece to one collector’ approach. As said, each piece is unique like a single piece sculpture thanks to the nature of hand-poured techniques. Some mixed media works involving paper collage or weaving even produce greater uniqueness. The thought of sharing his ideas with more audiences is more satisfying, lest to say that the costs of limiting to a single piece on one concept are daunting for most collectors.

Exhibitions

2025 Cultural Expressions for CHANGE, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Ont., Canada

2025 Visual Elements 67, Woodstock Art Gallery, Ont., Canada

2025 City Building, Gallery 1313, Toronto, Canada

2025 Joy Constructs Upon Musing, online exhibition and panel discussions, Projectfxx@Instagram

2024 Collage 2024, online show at John B Aird Gallery, Toronto, Canada

2024 Screen exhibition, Andakulova Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2024 Screen exhibition, Casa del Arte, Palma, Spain

2024 Screen exhibition, Cipriarte Gallery, Venice, Italy

2024 New Voices, online exhibition by ArtConnect

2024 Annual Juried Exhibition, Latcham Art Centre, Ont., Canada

2023 Visual Elements 65, Canticle Center Gallery, Lourdes University, Ohio, USA

2023 Visual Elements 65, Woodstock Art Gallery, Ont., Canada

2023 All the Small Things, Northern Contemporary, Toronto, Canada

2023 A City Une Ville, Gallery 1313, Toronto, Canada

Publications

2024 COLLAGE, artbook from John B Aird Gallery with texts by curator and gallery

Competition (Visual Art/Graphics)

Selected for final assessment: Lost Tribe in World City, HK Contemporary Art Awards 2012

First Prize, Graphic design of corporate image for Urban Renewal Conference, U of Manchester, England

Texts/Writings

2015: Article: You/me, Martin Creed and Lee Kit cited by Prof. Eva KW Man in Issues of Contemporary Art and Aesthetics in Chinese Context, page 90. ISBN 978-3-662-46509-7

2010 – 16 Art criticism writings (incl. above) on www.artswise.blogspot.com