Bao
Bringing colour to Hong Kong
A self-taught artist born and raised in hong kong, Bao aims to bring joy to her city through her colorful and impactful works. Bao’s artworks speak to everyone and is cross-generational.
While full of details, her pieces can be dissected for hours as you still won’t be able to see the little cat hidden behind a jar of pineapple jam, as they also can be seen as a whole to discover the big picture.
Her artworks are like open books in which you can dive to discover everything that hides in her colorful mind.
Her passion brought her to the front stage with multiple collaborations with world-famous brands such as Nike, TUMI, Microsoft, Foot Locker, Audi, and Mercedes Benz, to cite a few.
Bao is very active in the urban art scene, and there is no doubt she will keep on propagating joyful emotions to all the people who will come across her works through multiple mediums.
Her inspirations
Her talent is matched only by her creativity: evolving in a joyful world that is not unlike manga, her murals, rich in details and intertwined characters, take us back to the wonderful and imaginary worlds of our childhood. Bao has a keen sense of drawing and transcribes strong emotions through her works. Whether they are men, women, creatures, or animals, all her characters reflect feelings that humanize her scenes. And creatures abound: whether they are underwater, coming from space, or navigating in parallel worlds; Bao relentlessly creates off-beat universes in which all the characters rub shoulders and dance together for our greatest pleasure.
I don’t really think I’m an artist. I just do what I like and I really enjoy it because I am able to live with it. At the moment I do more illustration and street art. But really, I do whatever I like.
What is your story? What are the reasons that pushed you to paint?
I was a graphic designer for 6 or 7 years and I worked in an office. But I realised that this was not what I wanted to do. So I quit my job and started to travel around the world. When I was in Italy, I met some local graffiti artists and they introduced me to the world of street art. I like street art because it is for the public. It’s totally different from painting on canvas. For me, it’s like communicating with people.
What inspires you?
I’ve loved manga since I was a child. That’s what made me start drawing. Most of my inspiration comes from manga.
What is your favourite “playground”?
The wall is my playground for sure. I always dream of painting bigger and bigger walls. To paint on walls, I mostly use paint and brushes, but sometimes spray paint as well. For illustration, lately I only use the iPad. It’s very handy, but I’m also trying to get back to pencil and paper or canvas.
”Read
Last year, I worked with Tumi on a travel collection with suitcases, bags and luggage tags. I was very happy to travel with my own suitcase…
Who are the main artists who inspired you in the beginning?
Miyazaki Hayao: his animated films showed me another world.
Tim Burton was my mentor on the dark side…
What are the main artists that you are thrilled about today?
The same ones as before.
In your opinion, does urban art have an impact on people’s lives?
What I like about street art is that it’s aimed at the public. Anyone can see it and touch it or even paint over it.
It is not necessary to be a “professional artist”. You don’t need to be a professional artist. You can make up your own story based on the street art you have seen and which inspires you.
It can happen at any time in your life and one day you find yourself walking past your own mural every day on your way to work or on your way home.
Do you think your work questions society? In what way?
I don’t really think so. I just do what I like to do, and if it makes people happy, I’m happy, too.
The Drip’in concept is to bring urban art into the home. Our emblematic object is a white train, which we leave freely in the hands of the artists. Why did you choose to collaborate on this “Cover It Project”?
As I said, I’m happy that my work is making its way into someone’s life. I hope to cheer people up.
Our exclusive objects by Bao
