TWO

On the second day of 20/20 HINDSIGHT, we’re taking you on a trip into the exuberant, surreal world of Ursula Kam-Ling Cheng. From her huge murals to her projection works and ink drawings, fantastical hypercolour dreamscapes explode from Ursula’s work and hit you in the face like a sugar rush from eating a whole bag of sweets and then running around the living room shouting EEEEEEEEE! (No, I’ve never done that before.)  

Born in Northern Ireland, Ursula is a Scotland-based illustrator, mixed media, and performative digital artist. Animals, people and amorphous creatures playfully roam her candy-coloured, labyrinthine scenes. In her work all things become anthropomorphic – trees and flowers, food and strands of hair are given faces. Eyes even peer from backgrounds, seemingly detached, to mirror ourselves observing the spectacle. ‘Look’, the eyes are saying, ‘see how much fun it is here’.

Ursula’s influences range widely; from street art, music and Asian comics, to ancient relics, folkloric history and religious artworks, to her childhood memories from Hong Kong. Female figures are often the centre of her work and, with the soft, dreamy worlds they inhabit, present a conversation about social ideals and the expectations placed upon female individuals. 

Check out more of Ursula’s work here. We particularly love the limited and signed A3 risograph print ‘Infinity Spew’ which you can buy here, with 30% of proceeds going directly to Scottish Women's Aid. 

- Emma