Eight Cyanotype photograms of sharks fins on handmade paper, 2017.

Sizes ranging from 1 x 1.4 meters – 1 x 2 meters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test #Cyanotype for latest series: #photogram prints of sharks fins #hongkong a center for the #sharksfin trade: 50% of the world's sharks fins are sold here

A photo posted by Elizabeth Briel (@ebrielart) on Jan 4, 2017 at 9:49pm PST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hong Kong's sharks fin trade is viewed with mixed emotions by many in the Territory. Though enjoyed by the older generation, tastes are changing among the young. My frustration with unilateral western revulsion and condemnation of Chinese eating habits got me looking to explore these cultural tensions. I chose sharks fins because they're a lightning rod for many of these issues.

After seeing them in the dried seafood shops of Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island, I thought if they could be transformed into an unfamiliar form, it might help to look at the ideas of luxury and status and the brutality behind them in new ways. 

Titles of individual works in the series will come from memorable meals my friends have had which included sharks fin in some form – usually, celebrations for important life events.