Reflective Encounters

“Tsz Wing Ho experiments with a folding kaleidoscopе of forms. In Hand, her curiosity is aimed at the ways bends and creases interact within a wide black background, gesturing towards a humanistic interrogation of relationships. The film starts with two hands, fingers intertwined, around which a whole world is built. Such a beguiling interconnectedness permeates the work as a whole, with the help of digital animation which seamlessly transitions between colour and black and white.

In the kaleidoscope, the beauty of human hands comes to the fore, accompanied by the philosophical mediation of gestures, the suggestion of touch, and the lack thereof. With every clasp, wave, or flinch, the animated hands seem to acknowledge that the life they’re leading as isolated limbs is only a reminder of their flesh-and-blood counterparts. In a way, the hand evokes the whole body, the human in its individuality, and the corporeal behind the outlines. For the same reason, two hands seem to make up a complete picture. But alas, the picture is never truly finished, since its perfection relies on an imagined human presence, its echoes lingering in the delicate touch behind each line and squibble.”

— Savina Petkova