The Glowing City of Cognizance

Visual Artwork Interpretation

By: Tamara Mcneece-Nonu

I decided to visit an art gallery that was held at the Anderson-Foothill

Library in Salt Lake City, Ut on September 17, 2022. A local artist, originally

from China named Mercedes Nok Yi Ng. “Cognizance” is the name of her

collection. The de nition of Cognizant means being aware. In this case the

painter is depicting local scenery of everyday city scapes of Hong Kong. The

collection was conceived during the 2020 Pandemic.

According to the artist , the goal was to paint the beauty of a once bustling city

pre covid before everything shut down. She is showing us her memories of the

city life she grew up knowing and comparing it to how it changed during the

The Magic After Hours

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 Pedestrian

pandemic. There are depictions of empty cafes, old restaurants, neon signs and

busy roads.

Both of the paintings have a medium of oil on Canvas and they portray

landscapes found in the city of Hong Kong. Warm colors are being used almost

pastel like with the brightness of the shades of yellow, green, and orange. In the

painting titled “The Magic after Hours”. Vertical and Horizontal lines are used to

show the tall skyscrapers and the line the streets. Clean line and thick brush

strokes were used to create these pieces.

In the painting titled The Magic After Hours shows an empty cafe with a

noticeable clock that shows the time during business hours. There is de nitely

some deeper political meanings. The city looks bright and happy but there is

disparity that goes unseen . The Chinese practice a communistic government

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 where people are oppressed with little freedom. There is visual rhythm and

harmony and balance in all of her work.

In the next painting titled, Pedestrian depicts the urban city and a busy

street with many buses and cars. This is a typical scene the populated city of

Hong Kong. I think both pieces portray the seductive glamour of the city. China

is the most populous country in the world with 1.4 billion people living there

today. This ties into the title of the exhibit. Being cognizant of our surroundings

and how the city became industrialized and economic powerhouse meant the

hard work and labor of the citizens who built it.

In conclusion, my overall impression the gallery was this magni cent, bright,

utopian city but in actuality has a gory history of wars and oppressed citizens

who don’t have a voice. The contrast lied in the scenes of the cafe or the tennis

courts which were empty. I don’t mean to point ngers but this is my

interpretation. The pandemic started in a live sh market in Wuhan province.

Many wild animals live in inhumane conditions and are butchered on the spot

even common house pets like cats and dogs the Chinese consume. Viewing this

through my cultural lens being an American I feel the animals were getting

revenge and thus the Coronavirus spread. (This is my theory).

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