Artist Phoebe Hui
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Artist Biography
Phoebe Hui is a Hong Kong-based artist, researcher, and art educator whose research-driven practice explores how technology shapes our perception of reality. Drawing from the philosophy of science, language, and machine learning, she has created artworks across a wide range of media, including robotics, kinetic sculpture, generative art, installation, sound, comics, and drawing.
Hui holds an MFA in Design Media Arts from UCLA, an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and a BA in Creative Media from City University of Hong Kong. As a dedicated educator, she was honoured with a Teaching Excellence Award in 2019. Her works and research have been presented internationally at institutions and events such as Ars Electronica, ISEA, the MIT Media Lab, Asian Contemporary Art Week, Tokyo Experimental Festival, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Palace Museum, and Tai Kwun.
She has received numerous grants and accolades, including Young Artist of the Year (Media Arts) in 2012 and Artist of the Year (Media Arts) in 2022, both awarded by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC). She is also a recipient of the Altius Fellowship, the United States-Japan Arts Programme Fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council, the HKETO Yale-China Art Fellowship, the Bloomberg Emerging Artist Award, the HKADC Art Scholarship, and the Hong Kong Design Association Design Student Scholarship. In 2021, Hui was awarded the 5th Audemars Piguet Art Commission, which made her the first female artist in Asia to receive this prestigious honour. Her large-scale installation on this occasion, The Moon is Leaving Us, was also the first Audemars Piguet Art Commission showcased in Asia.
Artist Statement
"The Garden of Resemblances" is an exhibition inspired by the ancient "Doctrine of Signatures", which proposes that the visible forms of natural plants reflect their hidden properties, particularly in medicine. While developing this new commission at Oi!, I faced an unexpected personal challenge—a prolonged illness with no clear diagnosis. After consulting multiple doctors, it was ultimately herbal therapy that brought me relief and healing. This experience sparked my interest in the history of alternative medical treatments.
Although modern science has dismissed the idea of healing through signatures, its evocative and poetic power fascinates me, especially when considered alongside contemporary technological advancements. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of the episteme in The Order of Things, this project examines shifts in knowledge structures from traditional to modern thought. It raises questions about how our understanding of the body and nature has evolved—and how technology continues to reshape our perception of knowledge and the world.
Through this lens, the exhibition becomes an inquiry into how we navigate these ever-changing frameworks of knowledge. By transforming the exhibition space into a dreamlike, otherworldly environment, the project blurs the boundaries between nature, technology, and imagination. The garden serves as an experiential landscape, inviting visitors to wander through a liminal space between the real and the imagined. Integrating the organic with the mechanical, and the natural with the artificial, the installation offers a meditative journey—an opportunity to pause, breathe, and immerse oneself in a world of wonder.
I take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude to my incredible team and mentors, whose guidance, encouragement, and belief in me made this project possible.
Phoebe Hui is a Hong Kong-based artist, researcher, and art educator whose research-driven practice explores how technology shapes our perception of reality. Drawing from the philosophy of science, language, and machine learning, she has created artworks across a wide range of media, including robotics, kinetic sculpture, generative art, installation, sound, comics, and drawing.
Hui holds an MFA in Design Media Arts from UCLA, an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and a BA in Creative Media from City University of Hong Kong. As a dedicated educator, she was honoured with a Teaching Excellence Award in 2019. Her works and research have been presented internationally at institutions and events such as Ars Electronica, ISEA, the MIT Media Lab, Asian Contemporary Art Week, Tokyo Experimental Festival, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Palace Museum, and Tai Kwun.
She has received numerous grants and accolades, including Young Artist of the Year (Media Arts) in 2012 and Artist of the Year (Media Arts) in 2022, both awarded by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC). She is also a recipient of the Altius Fellowship, the United States-Japan Arts Programme Fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council, the HKETO Yale-China Art Fellowship, the Bloomberg Emerging Artist Award, the HKADC Art Scholarship, and the Hong Kong Design Association Design Student Scholarship. In 2021, Hui was awarded the 5th Audemars Piguet Art Commission, which made her the first female artist in Asia to receive this prestigious honour. Her large-scale installation on this occasion, The Moon is Leaving Us, was also the first Audemars Piguet Art Commission showcased in Asia.
Artist Statement
"The Garden of Resemblances" is an exhibition inspired by the ancient "Doctrine of Signatures", which proposes that the visible forms of natural plants reflect their hidden properties, particularly in medicine. While developing this new commission at Oi!, I faced an unexpected personal challenge—a prolonged illness with no clear diagnosis. After consulting multiple doctors, it was ultimately herbal therapy that brought me relief and healing. This experience sparked my interest in the history of alternative medical treatments.
Although modern science has dismissed the idea of healing through signatures, its evocative and poetic power fascinates me, especially when considered alongside contemporary technological advancements. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of the episteme in The Order of Things, this project examines shifts in knowledge structures from traditional to modern thought. It raises questions about how our understanding of the body and nature has evolved—and how technology continues to reshape our perception of knowledge and the world.
Through this lens, the exhibition becomes an inquiry into how we navigate these ever-changing frameworks of knowledge. By transforming the exhibition space into a dreamlike, otherworldly environment, the project blurs the boundaries between nature, technology, and imagination. The garden serves as an experiential landscape, inviting visitors to wander through a liminal space between the real and the imagined. Integrating the organic with the mechanical, and the natural with the artificial, the installation offers a meditative journey—an opportunity to pause, breathe, and immerse oneself in a world of wonder.
I take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude to my incredible team and mentors, whose guidance, encouragement, and belief in me made this project possible.
:Phoebe Hui