WH Expression

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Expression

Nancy Ma’s idea of fusing together ‘Woman’ and ‘Horse’ is to honour the inherently admirable qualities of Chinese women and, in particular, Chinese mothers. The individual works in this exhibition also embody her personal emotions during the creative process of art making. They speak of her own feelings – not only as a Chinese Woman and Mother – but also as a woman who still experiences the challenging realities of Life between Eastern and Western cultures.

To communicate with audiences both culturally and historically, Nancy has chosen the earliest Chinese Pictogram as a pre-calligraphic artistic device. It is the oldest Chinese typeform – used as the written language that developed thousands of years ago. It reflects the actual image of an object as perceived in the minds of people and in Chinese traditional thoughts.

The Chinese pictogram depiction of “Woman” or “Female” (pronounced as nǚ, in modern writing as ‘女’) in its original form

was a half-kneeling female. It illustrates the inferior status of women within the family and society. The word itself demonstrates that a woman’s role is to serve and be submissive.

The posture of “kneeling down” can be seen in the graphic structure of the character itself – and signifies a junior paying respect to the senior. The gesture of putting two hands together and bowing down symbolises “to serve and await orders”. The humble, drawn-back position of the woman is portrayed in the “bent over and pulling of the chest inward” gesture. This position also signifies timidity, fearfulness, weakness, a general lack of drive and self-esteem.

The Chinese character for “Horse” (pronounced as “mǎ”, modern script is “馬”) in its earliest pictogram form

has eyes, hair, tail and legs. The Chinese horse possesses similar attributes to the horse of other cultures. It represents speed, freedom, power, strength, ambition, confidence and elegance. It is considered to be independent, alert, exuberant, arrogant and wild.

All of these characteristics can be seen as being in direct contrast to the concept of the “Female”, which represents submission, constraint, servitude and weakness and a marked lack of confidence.

The Chinese character “Mother” ( 媽 )(pronounced as mā) in the modern script is composed of two pictograms, “Woman”‭ (‬女‭)‬ and “Horse” ‭(‬馬‭). ‬However this word did not exist in early times. The character “Mother” (媽) is a new word which was only created and popularised between Sung Dynasty (960–1279) and Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).

In the Woman•Horse series, Nancy Ma creates a new artistic expression of “Mother’ by using the concept of bringing together the early depictions “Woman” and “Horse”.

This concept forms the basis of her artwork series. Nancy shows that although a pictogram “Mother” did not exist in ancient times, but a Mother as a person did. So she uses the modern script “Mother” (媽) as a concept but presents it through the form of ancient script – the pictogram. It equates perfectly to the longstanding nature of Chinese culture.

It consists of a “Horse” which represents power and strength, standing next to a “Woman”. Woman•Horse exclaims that a mother’s function takes power to nurture.

A modern-day Mother is more than merely nurturing, as depicted of old. Nancy Ma’s artworks strongly relate to her personal experiences within Chinese culture and tradition – as well as her constant rebellion as a contemporary Chinese woman against those same constraints.

More significantly, by following the Zodiac cycle of The Year of the Horse, Nancy Ma wants to show that it may not be a struggle after all. By aligning Woman with Horse, she clearly illustrates the humble Woman's need to articulate strength is completely compatible with Motherhood in the modern world.

Through a unity with the traditional masculine symbol of the Horse, Chinese Woman gains strength and capabilities every bit as strong as those of a Mother.