Celebrity Life

Model and artist Afa Lee is equally at home in front of a canvas or a camera. We meet her on set and at a gallery cafe, where we talk at length about solitude, Yayoi Kusama and Hieronymus Bosch.

Afa Lee talks with equal ease about Rembrandt and Dali as she does about Vuitton and Dior, just as she can expound at length about the odd parallels between Japanese Ukiyo-e art and that of the Baroque period, both of which began around the same time – in the late 17th century. We, for our part, offer polite nods that feign comprehension. Let’s start at the beginning.

Afa Lee, Model and Artist

Where did you study art? 

I didn’t study fine art but design. I have my BA Honours in Visual Communication from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. I was an art director in an advertising agency for a few years after graduation, then I quit and became a full-time illustrator, then more recently a visual artist. 

Describe your art. 

When I try to explain my style of work to others, I say it’s kind of disturbing but with a candy coating. But when people describe my work, they see it as sweet, creepy and scary at the same time. Actually, there was a period when my work was much more explicit and unsettling. Like many artists, I’d gone through different stages and styles - but the themes I circumnavigated ended up being more or less the same: always about solitude, distance among people, our longing for connecting with each other, fear and all desires. I paint about feminism, too. I like to stare at all the undercurrents behind the veil.

Who are your favourite artists? 

I like Salvador Dalí, Hieronymus Bosch, Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama and Ukiyo-e art. They all inspire my work. I like art that expresses consciousness and the deep fear of humanity by way of distorted human forms. 

If you could go to any gallery anywhere, where would we find you? 

My favourite galleries are the Uffizi in Florence, the Saatchi Gallery and Tate Modern in London, and The Power Station of Art in Shanghai. And it’s always been on my bucket list to visit the Salvador Dalí Museum in Barcelona.

What challenges do you face as an artist in a commercial city like Hong Kong? 

It’s said that Hong Kong is a place for trading in art but not art itself. I’d have agreed with that in the past, but no longer. Commercial, short-sighted, money-minded, lack of cultural vibes are easy and lazy expressions carried over from the past, but they don’t reflect contemporary Hong Kong – the vibe in recent years has changed completely. People here have started to realise the importance of humanity in a city, and are thus starting to appreciate art and culture as a means of recording and healing. All the shocks or difficult times that we’ve experienced have nurtured and provided content for our creations.

Art units, collectors and even auction houses have started looking out for Hong Kong talent, which is a huge encouragement to local artists. I’m happy that I’ve been an in-house artist with JPS Gallery since last year. It’s a new space, but they’re energetic and aggressive and, most importantly, they have the vision to promote and support Hong Kong artists, which I appreciate a lot. The best way to support artists in Hong Kong is to help us make a living, so we can continue to create. I know I’m lucky, I can live on my art and keep doing what I want to do.

What’s been the oddest request you’ve had to paint? 

Someone I hated very much once asked me to draw him in the form of Yokai Monsters [a late-’60s trilogy of Japanese horror and fantasy films written by Tetsuro Yoshida]. Back in those days, I kept drawing my friends in the form of monsters, based on their personalities and characteristics. And I showed that work in an exhibition. For some reason, I couldn’t refuse his request but it was really hard for me to draw someone I had no feelings at all for – it was like lying to myself. I felt that work was so insincere, so fake. I hated it. It was terrible, full of hesitation and guilt. Eventually, I found some excuse and didn’t show it in my exhibition.

Who’s your ideal buyer? 

Tony Leung [bursts out laughing], because he visited our booth at Art Central in May earlier this year, but he left five minutes before I arrived, so I missed him. I hope one day he can collect one of my pieces because he’s been my idol for so many years.

What are you working on, and what’s coming up next for you? 

I’ve been quite busy this year. Soon after my solo exhibition in December last year, I joined two group shows at Belowground, Landmark – co-presented by Belowground and JPS Gallery – and also Art Central in May. I’m currently preparing for my solo show, which will take place in Tokyo at the end of the year.  

Where can we see or buy your work?  

To see my work, you can simply search my Instagram account (@afa_annfa) or my website. People who want to buy my art can contact JPS Gallery. And if we can all travel again soon, my first solo exhibition in Japan is in the works. Here’s hoping for a better 2022.

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Each niche has its own myths. Especially when we’re talking about sports. Some believe that professional athletes only bring harm to their bodies and minds. Others are sure that it’s impossible to guess a championship winner right at tonybet.co.uk/players/login_form. But myths appear not only when we are talking about professional sports. We can face them, […]

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With these paraphernalia, you can fully enjoy a good yoga session at home.

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A quick scroll through Jennie Cheung’s social media reveals countless photos and clips of her mesmerizing practice, as she steadily moves through the various inversions in an elegant dance. Cheung, who’s also a professional hand balancer, primarily teaches inversions at Pure Yoga, where her advanced classes are highly sought-after.

Tell us about the style you practice and teach.

I love handstands and every variation thereof. Who doesn’t like hopping up and landing with their world turned upside down? Three years ago I met my handstand coach and since then I’ve transitioned into my current path where I now consider myself as a full-time handstand practitioner and teacher. This path has led me to an ongoing exploration of the field of hand balancing. As a dedicated hand balancer, I now share what I’ve learned in my classes on a regular basis.

The handstand is my favourite pose for sure, partly because it looks pretty cool doing a handstand in the middle of the room! Handstands aren’t easy – consistency and persistence are non-negotiable. It requires lots
of core strength and endurance training, not to mention the benefits of increased circulation and lymph flow. You engage your whole body while using your shoulders, arms, core, and back.

What’s the most important thing when you’re teaching the practice?

Whether I’m practicing or teaching, the most important thing is to listen to your body and pay attention to your own intuition. To tune inward and get sensitive to yourself. That feeling in your body is where you’ll find your intuition and your capacity to act. As you practice more, your body sends you messages – core, gut feelings – all the time. You don’t need to reason them, logic them or intellectualize them. You just need to act on them. Also, everyone has their own practice, so never compare or let your own ego guide you. Just do what you can do.

Where are your favourite places to do yoga?

When I travel, I do handstands anywhere in a city, on a bridge, or on a mountain. A few of my favourite places to handstand are the Great Wall of China, Ginza in Tokyo, and Sausalito in California.

Tell us about your yoga journey and how it changed your life.

I took my first Bikram yoga class at university in Toronto. I got my teacher qualification 15 years ago and have been teaching hot yoga at Pure Yoga ever since. I developed the basis of my experience through time on the mat. The most important thing I can do as a teacher is practice, committing to a dedicated daily self-practice and sticking with it – this is the foundation of teaching. To sift my mindset from “teaching postures” to “teaching people” – for example, how to relax into change and never quit, especially in hot yoga. And the most effective way to do that is to learn to do it myself, to model it as a teacher. One of the greatest tools of yoga teaches me to listen: listening is a powerful skill that allows me to guide students – and my own life – with wisdom and compassion.

Yoga is both mental and physical, how does mindful movement benefit us?

Yoga is like a shield against many diseases and health disorders. It gives your body the power to protect itself from immunity-related diseases like cold and cough, viral fever, etc. I have never taken a sick leave in the past 15 years of teaching! Yoga also cures backaches, neck aches, arthritis, etc. The regular practice of yoga provides vitality to inner organs and improves their functions. In addition, yoga opens up the doors of imagination, creativity, and concentration.

Yoga promotes the overall fitness of your body and improves flexibility. Yoga incorporates many stretching movements that tone your body muscles and makes them stronger. The fitness of the body depends on the fitness of your mind. Yoga is not only a physical exercise, it is a mind and body connection. Our hectic HK lifestyles have led our generation to health disorders and emotional distress.

It can help you in innumerable ways, as it empowers your body, mind, and soul to fight the stress and everyday problems of life. Practicing the right kind of yoga religiously will help cleanse your body, mind, and soul. It is also a way of developing your mental ability and concentration levels.

How has the Hong Kong yoga scene changed in the last three years and what developments have you seen?

Last year was a tumultuous time for the fitness and yoga industry and no one could have predicted we would be working out from home. The online fitness and yoga industry will become even bigger in 2021 as virtual yoga and fitness classes are here to stay. One of the greatest areas of growth in 2020, which is set to continue into 2021, is the use of yoga and fitness apps which have been greatly realised and embraced worldwide.

The post Hand Balancer Jennie Cheung on Inversions and Shifting Perspectives on Yoga appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

A former fashion PR professional, Victor Chau is the creator of Empowered Flow, teaching a vinyasa style of yoga focused on inversions and conditioning bodies and minds to improve focus, confidence and conquer inner fear.

Chau also co-founded Mentorships Workshop to help and prepare newer teachers for a fulfilling career - many of his 150+ graduates are now teaching at major yoga studios like Pure Yoga and Fivelements Habitat, as well as being brand ambassadors for Lululemon and Nike. Currently, Chau teaches in Sheung Wan’s Yoga Room and Fivelements Habitat in Causeway Bay.

Tell us about your yoga journey and how it changed your life?

I started my first yoga class nearly 20 years ago but it wasn’t love at first sight - I wasn’t very fit and attended that class after a spin class, thinking that yoga was just a stretch. I couldn’t be more wrong. I hated every second of it. But I decided to give yoga a second chance and little did I know that it was yoga that gave me a second chance in life. I started to practice more and my body awareness started to increase. My mind became clearer and my body became more lean and stronger.

After moving to Beijing with my PR work, I started to practice yoga a bit more, which led me to my journey to India, where I did my teacher training in Sivananda Yoga Kutir, nestled right by the holy river Ganges. There I learned that happiness could be quite simple. Upon returning home in 2010, I started teaching and found sense of purpose. Six months later, I quit my job and became a yoga teacher and never looked back since. To this date, I still don’t doubt my decision… a yoga teacher to help hundreds of people improve their lives.

Tell us about the style you practice and teach.

Like many yoga practitioners, I started trying many different styles of yoga, until I settled a little bit more with Vinyasa Yoga - a style of yoga that has students flow fluidly from pose to pose. 4 years ago, I also created Empowered Flow, which encompasses inversions, core conditioning, some handstands, flexibility and above all, empowering people to be a better version of themselves.

This is what I practice and teach mostly now. It is a challenging practice but also accessible for new yogis. As you can guess, handstand and inversions are my favourite - as they really challenge me to be physically strong and mentally focused. Most importantly, it helps me and my students conquer their deepest fears.

What is the most important thing when you are teaching the practice?

Setting an intention - which can then help people find a purpose and truly transform into a better version of themselves.

Tell us more about your favourite pose and what it does for you?

Handstand. It is one that got my attention. I remember at my teacher training, I tried numerous times but to no avail. It took me many years of regular practice and falling down before I started to come up to a handstand.

Handstand (and any inversions for that matter), has taught me to be humble. Nothing will come easy and repeated hard work a prerequisite on a handstand journey. Although it’s the handstand shape that I am aiming for, at the end of the day, it is really about the technique, the mentality and also the patience behind the practice that really counts.

I am able to be detached from the handstand itself - one day I can do it, some day I can’t. And it’s okay. Just like anything in life, it comes and goes. The ability to let go is the source of true happiness, not handstand itself. And I’m honoured enough to have taught hundreds of people handstand, watching them get stronger.

How has the HK yoga scene changed in the last three years and what developments have you seen?

Hong Kong people have definitely become more interested in yoga and their awareness for physical and mental physical has grown exponentially in the last few years. You can tell from the increase in the number of sports supplies/apparel shops, and the number of gyms and studios has also slowly climbed up. People are also more receptive of alternative, non-mainstream ways of practices that could promote mental health, such as gong bath, sound and crystal healing, and reiki.

If there is a silver lining from Covid-19, it has taught us that health is the most important thing in life, a nine-to-five schedule is not the only way to work. Online classes might have been a hit big earlier but it’s already in decline because it lacks one of the most important parts of a live yoga class - real human connection.

One of the most noticeable changes in the last few years is that people started to realise that going to the big gyms with big classes (30 to 40 plus students in one class) might not be the best way to learn, especially keeping in mind social distancing…This gave rise to the emergence of smaller yoga studios that ensure a higher teacher to students ratio (usually 1:10 or less) and they usually boast a personality that reflects that owner, usually a yoga teacher who is younger, adventurous and is more ready to take risks.

Where are your favourite places to practice?

With a hectic schedule, I practice whenever and wherever I can. My favourite places would be my home, Yoga Room and my favourite place to film my yoga videos is Fivelements Habitats. But whenever the sun is shining, you will see me practice in the big lawn of Victoria Park or on any beach. When we are allowed to travel again, I would love to go back to India and practice along the Ganges, I did that every day at my yoga teacher training.

How can yoga help with the main pain points in our hectic HK lifestyles?

First and foremost, yoga can help correct bad posture (slouching, shoulders round, core not engaged when standing or sitting). It can remind us how to stand and sit properly: upright, shoulders relaxed and chin parallel to the floor. This alone can already relieve most of the aches and chronic pain caused by our sedentary lifestyle.

A lot of the poses in yoga emphasise core strength (headstand, handstand, downward facing dog), shoulders opening (bridge pose, wheel pose), spinal rotation (supine twist) and lateral stretches (triangle pose, side angle pose) - all these can help improve our posture, ease the pain caused by bad postures. These can also improve our breathing because our breath is bound by the shape of our chests. When we breathe better, our health will improve too.

Yoga is both mental and physical, how does mindful movement benefit us?

Mindful movement is a loose term to describe the movement, and non-movement of oneself done in a meaningful, purposeful and awaken way. This means that every step we take, every time we raise our hands, every speech we make have an intention behind them. This makes a huge difference in our life in that we have been told to act, behave in a certain way: get a degree, get married, have children, buy a house, go on a holiday (or staycation), buy designer clothes or bag - all these things we think will make us happy. We almost never question why we do the things that we do. We are then merely existing, not living.

On the contrary, being mindful in every thing we do means we set an intention before we do them. For example, in a yoga class, you can set an intention for that particular practice: what is it that you are trying to achieve? What pose you are trying to learn? Or simply a state of mind you would like to be? Or simply learn how to relax more? Or be kinder to yourself and others? Or learning more about yourself. Then the class will become directional, there’s a compass in your practice. The practice will become mindful, not just about the poses. And if you can bring this intention and mindfulness into your daily life, this is where real yoga begins.

(Images: Courtesy of Victor Chau)

The post Victor Chau of Empowered Flow on the Evolution of the Local Yoga Scene appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Imbibed amidst an immersive patchwork of sounds, scents, and flavours, the latest edition of Krug's much-loved multi-vintage Champagne strikes a chord that is as joyful as it is delicious.

I'll be the first to concede that there's nothing quite like "the intangible quality...of taking in the terroir" but insofar as virtual tastings are concerned -- essentially the status quo for drinks industry pundits in 2021 -- the recent unveiling of Krug's latest Grande Cuvée proved to be oddly visceral and thrilling (in some ways, even touching). Every year since 1843, the eponymous makers of prestige Champagne have released a new assemblage of reserve wines, always consisting of the classic Champenois trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier; and always left to age sur lie for 7 years.

Dispensing first with the formalities, the 169th Edition is a "generous expression" of 146 wines made in 11 different years (Krug bottle single vintages relatively infrequently), the oldest of which harkens back to the turn of the millennium. It is, however, the 2013 vintage that -- to butcher a musical analogy -- really sets the bassline: with intensely "luminous and pure" Chardonnays; racy Meunier; and Pinot Noir that extrudes a long, treacle finish. It is in a word, unsurprisingly, 'scrumptious': at its best harmonising alongside sharp aged cheese; aromatic seafood dishes; maybe even a cheeky slice of tarte tatin.

Unsurprisingly, the hallmarks of this Grande Cuvée (namely quality, consistency, and complexity) remain present year in, year out; but it's Krug's highly intuitive method of presentation that helps to immerse drinkers in the art of crafting prestige Champagne. With the jubilant voice of Olivier Krug pouring into their ears -- livestreaming in from the Maison's ancestral holdfast in Reims -- participants in these 'Encounters' were able to hear the story of the 169th Edition in a style that takes you beyond the spoken word. An "audio pairing" composed by Belgian musician Ozark Henry (and fed through to listeners using 8D technology) chronicles, in sonic form, the entire journey of the latest Krug edition: from plot to tasting, and finally harmonious blending together at the hands of Cellar Master Julie Cavil.

As ever, these 'Encounters' ended with a culinary presentation (in Hong Kong, presided over by Island Shangri-La's Uwe Opocensky) inspired by the tasting notes for the current edition -- langoustine and freshly jetted oysters seem to be much-favoured accompaniments this time round -- followed by a round of questions for the Maison's patriarch, Mr. Olivier Krug. On whether he was excited for a resumption of global travel -- to better present this 169th annual bottling -- he expressed optimism. Until then, you could do a lot worse than sipping to a soundtrack.

The 169th Edition of Krug Grande Cuvée is now available at various retail partners throughout Hong Kong, including Watson's, The Fine Wine Experience, CitySuper and Avize Wine Cellar. To learn more, visit Krug online.

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