Wei Lun Ha, Fate
Wei Lun Ha is a Vietnam-born Chinese New Zealander. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Auckland and is driven by a keen interest in ecological issues and contemporary identity. His art explores cultural motifs and life philosophies along with personal stories which he often represents in symbolic objects. His limited palette and deft brushwork also evoke traditional Chinese landscape paintings and porcelain decorations. Each pairing in Ha’s Fate series is connected by a red thread across a bisected moon. Chinese mythology holds that “the red thread of fate” is guided by the lunar deity Yuè Lao and connects those destined to be together.
Wei Lun Ha has won several New Zealand art awards, including the Wallace Vermont Award (2016), the Franklin Art Award (2016 merit for landscape), the Wallace People's Choice Award (2015) and the Estuary Arts Award (2014). He was a finalist in the Parkin drawing prize this year. In 2017 he travelled to Vermont, USA to complete a three month residency during which he developed his porcelain painting and his work was included in the 2019 Beijing Biennale.