HONG KONG.- Ora-Ora announced that the gallery will be representing acclaimed Hong Kong ink artist Nina Pryde on a worldwide basis and with immediate effect.

The artist will be the subject of a solo show at Ora-Ora from July 26 to August 30 at Ora-Ora in Tai Kwun.

Nina Pryde is celebrated for her mesmerizing ink and photo collage techniques. Revered pioneering ink artist and proponent of the New Ink Movement Wucius Wong was one of the first to appreciate Nina Pryde’s talent and potential, expressing admiration for her innovation.

Central to Nina Pryde’s creativity is her use of photography and mixed media. She combines this modern innovation with classical ink techniques, juxtaposing classical landscapes with modern details. The blending of eternal and the contemporary creates a twist in the viewer’s perception, and the seamless mix of the two draws the viewer in to assimilate the unexpected information. The interjection of modern buildings or human or animal figures creates moments which cut across the centuries, and which mix humour with the sense of mystery and poetry of the classic shan shui vista. Her love of landscape is reinforced by her passion for hiking and the outdoors, making her paintings a reflection of her own gentle search for inner peace.

The artist has built a stellar reputation in the Asia arts world for her ability to handle the traditional aspects of ink and translate them into a contemporary context. She employs natural landscape features such as mountains, rivers, trees, rocks, hazy clouds and mist arranged in a multi-layered composition, leading them to be seen as if from a level, a higher or a deeper distance at the same time. Through a blend of thick, pale, dry and wet ink with “the five colours of black” (meaning the use of the varying shades of pure blacks and whites), she conveys her feelings about the expansiveness and magnificence of nature.

Nina Pryde has innovation at her heart, and has always approached her artworks, often in large-scale dimensions, with a sense of adventure. Nina Pryde studied under Wucius Wong at the Hong Kong Chingying Institute of Visual Arts, and beyond, and under his mentoring she further developed her own style and technique.

As CEO and Co-founder of Ora-Ora, Dr. Henrietta Tsui-Leung said, “Nina Pryde is a Hong Kong great, who mesmerizes all who encounter her work. Her unique combination of mixed media and ink is generously matched by her vision and creativity. We are delighted to welcome her home to Ora-Ora.”

Nina Pryde has been represented by Ora-Ora for specific exhibitions in the past, but this marks the first worldwide exclusive partnership between the artist and gallery. As a Hong Kong-born artist with a classically-driven academic background, she is a natural fit for Ora-Ora’s research-driven, innovation-focused aesthetic which it has pursued from its Hong Kong base for close to 20 years.

Nina Pryde is a Member of the Hong Kong Union of Visual Artists and Chinese Ink Painting Institute, as well as Honorary President of the Hong Kong Modern Ink Painting Society.

Nina Pryde studied under Wucius Wong at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, followed by a master’s course from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the Hong Kong School of Art. Based in the Pryde Studio in Fotan, she lives and works in Hong Kong.

Nina Pryde draws on Chinese philosophy and her personal journey as an artist born on the day Hong Kong was liberated from Japanese occupation. Creating collaged landscapes of the rolling hills and slate skies of Hong Kong, her output points to an affinity with the terrain of her native country and that of Japan where she has travelled extensively. Having begun her artistic career in the realm of pottery, she has become highly regarded for her layered interpretation of modern ink. Her ability to complement and pair ink, brush and paper with subtle, documentary additions points to the flexibility and constant inventiveness of herself and the medium.

Her works are in the collections of The University Museum and Art Gallery of Hong Kong University and The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel, as well as many private organizations. Past exhibitions with Ora-Ora include “Semper Femina“ (2023), “Infinity,” and Taipei Dangdai (both 2019). She has also shown at Art Central, Fine Art Asia, Ink Asia and at Ink Global. Most recently she formed part of “Crossing Mountains and Seas Lotus Fragrance in Ink Paintings” in Macao, A New Era of Ink Painting in Hong Kong” and “The Black and the White, the Void and the Solid,” also in Hong Kong (all 2024).