𝑳.𝑶.𝑽.𝑬.𝑹 — Debut Solo Media Arts Exhibition by Natalie Isdoingokay
Hong Kong Arts Centre ifva continued partnership with the Goethe-Institut Hongkong to present a solo exhibition for the outstanding winner of the ifva Media Art Category. This year, we are delighted to present L.O.V.E.R a debut solo media arts exhibition by Natalie Isdoingokay, recipient of the Gold Award at the 29th ifva Awards.
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IN and OUT. Right now take that breath in and out. Memories rush in, reflecting on how time slips through the blink of an eye. Visions & memories lash out, swiftly in between the fingers.
Grasping fragments of her past, musing a future puzzle, weaving the pieces into the fabric of her future, forging a pathway to her tomorrow. She’s on a quest for the light and the truth in the loom of lost in a mist. The infinite void engulfs her wrestling strength gazing and blinking through the chaos of now.
Now cannot be crafted, but simply be. Now – is the sunlight gently whispering on her palm. Now – is the nature, the existence, that penetrates and envelopes her. Now – is the ephemeral instant of perception and sensation. The connection woven by the law of nature is seen by the will of seeing. Thus by seeing is to feel and to perceive the intricate interplay of cause and causation so evidently as a life illuminates so bright like the flicker of a flame.
In the traversing between the discourse of theoretical reasoning and lived intimate experience, she navigates the qualia from an array of distances and perspectives in five reimaginations:
Karmic Links, the centre piece of the show, is an interlacing of the polarization of tenderness and brutality. The intertwining ropes and chains embody the roots and branches and leaves of a tree, where each element finds its own place, in its own pace, forming each facet of phase. Revealing the tension between the cold steel and gentle yet steadfast essence rethreadings within the vast cosmos. All Destinations, a lover’s letter to the precious cycle of life. The intimate whisper through her camera is by dedicating herself daily to nurturing and admiring its beauty in the process of blossoming and wilting as they bloom and fade. Being, a series of photography capturing the act of a codependent breathing, transcending the present into eternity by suspending time into stillness, manifested in still images into echoes of moments. Moments of ineffable and intrinsic connection. Clementine continues her exploration of qualia of oneself from past to future. Deconstructing fragments of experiences into the light spectrum that overlaps and reconstructs meaning of the past, to be perceived by the present.
Eventually, you and I find each other when the law of nature says it is meant-to-be. Gazing into your eyes, revealing the silhouette of who I am. In the moment of the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning, we stand still, where we are almost close to touching the clarity of our qualia. For our being to be seen in the name of romance, woven into this last piece of the exhibition —— L.O.V.E.R
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L.O.V.E.R — Debut Solo Media Arts Exhibition by Natalie Isdoingokay
Date & Time: 12/1/2026 (Mon) - 6/2/2026 (Fri)
10:00am – 7:00pm (Mon - Fri) / 9:30am – 6:30pm (Sat) / Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays
Venue: Goethe-Gallery & Black Box Studio, Goethe-Institut Hongkong
Opening
Date & Time: 16/1/2026 (Fri) 7:00pm - 8:30pm
A guided tour led by the artist will take place at 7:15pm and will be conducted in Cantonese and English
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As an extension activity to the exhibition, join media artist Natalie Isdoingokay in an intimate artist sharing, where she will discuss her creative practice and the inspirations behind her debut solo exhibition. The sharing session invites audiences to explore the artist’s process and reflections in an interactive setting.
Artist Sharing by Natalie Isdoingokay
Date and time: 24/1/2026 (Sat) 3:30pm – 4:30pm
Venue: The Library of the Goethe-Institut Hong Kong (14/F, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wan Chai)
Talk will be conducted in Cantonese and English.
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ARTIST STATEMENT
It started just a pulsating urge to feel the present, that wasn’t painful in chaos.
If I’m in pain,
Clementine gives the pain meaning
so it’s not just pain.
If I’m running out of time,
I know I’m going All Destinations instead of just dying.
If I’m losing control of my fate,
it is Karmic Links instead of some random numbness
that I actually could do something about it that counts.
If I’m questioning my Being,
I have you
to pulse with me,
to feel with me
so recklessly relentlessly this moment stands still.
If I'm in love,
I’m a L.O.V.E.R locking eyes with another,
a pair of romantic lovers lighting up to see each other in outer space,
instead of just me being stupid.
Then the chaos makes sense.
It doesn’t take the pain away,
and it’s not the takeaway from the pain.
It is just a pulsating urge to be in the present.
And this moment wasn’t so bad.
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
▎Natalie Isdoingokay
Being present amid the chaos of life feels like a luxury. In 2023, there were twenty calm and peaceful minutes, before freefalling from ten thousand feet above Cape Town. A pivotal moment of my journey during an artist residency in South Africa. I gazed upon the glowing twilight in that African clementine sky, whilst the soil land came as clay on my palms. I never intended to be an artist; it was just a pulsating urge to feel the present.
Snow, I had never seen snow. The next year I was in Nagoya. I looked forward to seeing a snowfall for the first time when the weather forecast said that there was no chance. Where there is expectation, there always comes disappointment. I wondered if I had always been that disappointment to others. One night I dug up my red notebook with a scribbled idea that happened in some university library in the UK, of one non-existent artwork, Never Have I Ever (2024), I then decided to send it to the ifva competition. There was this other night, in Nagoya, a miraculous email came named “Finalist Confirmation”. The next morning I woke up, as I pulled back the curtains, the first snow that wouldn’t come, was falling slowly. Soon after I made my first media artwork, was honoured with the Gold Award, and never intended to be an artist; it was just a pulsating urge to feel the present.
Life sent me a gift, showing me a door to an entirely new path. With my trusty DV camera, my kaleidoscope of trials and vibrant errors for years has been documented, which later transformed into the brilliance of Clementine (2024). I found myself surrounded by a captivating mix of souls — a dance artist, a filmmaker and a theatre artist. Together we kickstarted Binchadou (2024) , an interdisciplinary artistic experiment. Then I was brought to the Transmediale media arts festival in Berlin, followed by a multitude of more miraculous moments. For each step I took towards and into this world, the harder it gets to say who I am as an artist. I never set out to be an artist; it is just a pulsating urge to understand the present.
Instagram // @natalie.is.doingokay
Artist website // https://natalieisdoingokay.com
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Co-presented by：Hong Kong Arts Centre and Goethe-Institut Hongkong
