Dominique Fung, a Canadian artist with Hong Kong and Shanghai roots, unveils a captivating exploration of history, myth, and memory in her first Hong Kong solo exhibition, Beneath the Golden Canopy. Centering on the polarizing Empress Dowager Cixi, Dominique's paintings and artifacts delve into power, femininity, and the fluidity of historical narratives. Shaped by her diasporic identity and reflections on colonial storytelling, Dominique's work challenges viewers to question the myths and omissions behind inherited stories. In this exclusive Q&A with JESSICA, Dominique reveals the inspirations behind her layered reimagining of the past.

Q: Your exhibition, Beneath the Golden Canopy, centers on Empress Dowager Cixi, a polarizing historical figure. What inspired you to focus this exhibition on her story, and how did your personal experiences—such as childhood memories of period dramas, your diasporic identity, and reflections on colonial narratives—shape your portrayal of her?

A: Empress Dowager Cixi has always fascinated me. Growing up watching period dramas, she was either a ruthless villain or a tragic figure - rarely anything in between. That binary way of seeing power stuck with me. Being part of the diaspora also made me more aware of how history is framed, whose stories get flattened or reshaped to fit a narrative. With this show, I wanted to give her space to exist in all her contradictions - to be both mythical and human, feared and revered - while exploring how her story has been warped, retold, and reconstructed over time.

Q:  In The She Dragon, The Fragile Phoenix, and The Limping Dragon, you use vivid color for the empresses while the emperor appears in monochrome. What inspired this visual distinction, and how does it reflect your perspective on historical power dynamics?

A: In The She Dragon, The Fragile Phoenix, and The Limping Dragon, Emperor Xianfeng is drained of color, fading into a monochrome wash, while the empresses radiate in rich, layered hues. It’s a reversal of how power is traditionally portrayed - emperors are often seen as these solid, immovable forces in history, while women are depicted as ornamental, secondary. But in reality, figures like Cixi were constantly shifting, adapting, outmaneuvering the structures designed to contain them. The color in my paintings reflects that - it’s dynamic, alive, in flux. The emperor, by contrast, is stagnant, a ghost of authority rather than an active force.

Q: You’ve included artifacts like a carpet from Cixi’s court and a series of 20th-century jewelry boxes in the exhibition. How do these objects enhance the storytelling in your paintings, and what do they reveal about your exploration of history and womanhood?

A: I wanted something of hers in the room - something that had literally been beneath her feet. The carpet from Cixi’s court isn’t just decor, it’s a witness. While the jewerly boxes, often dismissed as frivolous or feminine, actually carry entire histories - of trade, of intimacy. They hold the personal within the political, the delicate within the powerful. To me, they’re reminders that history isn’t just in grand palaces and official records, it’s in the things we touch, the things we keep, the things that outlive us.

Q: Your work blends historical references with fantastical elements, such as fish soldiers and crumbling architecture. How do you balance fact and fiction in your work, and what role does this interplay serve in challenging traditional narratives?

A: For me, fact and fiction aren’t opposites - they’re tangled up in each other. History isn’t this neat, objective record; it’s full of contradictions, omissions, and reinterpretations, often shaped by whoever holds the pen. By blending in fantastical elements, I’m not inventing a new version of the past - I’m exposing its gaps, the places where the record frays or falters. Fantasy, in that sense, becomes a tool to challenge what we think we know, to remind us that history is always up for questioning.

Q: The lighting in your paintings draws inspiration from Dutch masters like Vermeer and Rembrandt, using candlelight and shadow to guide the viewer. How do you decide which elements to illuminate or conceal, and what effect do you hope this has on how people interpret your art?

A: Light is a guide - it tells the viewer where to look. I love the way painters like Vermeer and Rembrandt used light not just to illuminate, but to create a sense of mystery. Shadows hold just as much meaning as the things we see clearly.

Q: Your palette has evolved from Tang dynasty ceramics to weathered, earthy tones. What does this shift signify for you, and how does it connect to your exploration of history’s erosion, reinterpretation and transformation?

A: I started out painting with the glazes of Tang Dynasty funerary objects in mind, those rich, glossy surfaces frozen in time. But the more I painted, the more my palette started shifting on its own. I became drawn to the way things age - how objects buried in the earth or lost to the sea take on these beautifully unpredictable patinas. Colors wear down, get murky, oxidize. So, over time, my work started picking up these rusty ambers, moody grays, deep greens - tones that feel like they’ve lived through something. It wasn’t intentional at first, but looking back, it makes sense. I’m not interested in history as something fixed - I like how it erodes, transforms, gets retold. The colors started following that same logic.

Q: You’ve said your work doesn’t aim to reconstruct Cixi’s world but to grapple with its myths, omissions and shifting interpretations. What do you hope viewers take away from peering “behind the golden curtain” of your paintings?

A: I hope that viewers leave with more questions than answers. My work isn’t about reconstructing the world of Cixi in any definitive way - it’s about exploring the myths, omissions, and evolving interpretations that have shaped her story. I hope people will leave with a sense of how history is always in flux, how it’s shaped by those who have the power to tell it - and how, sometimes, the most interesting stories are the ones that remain obscured, just out of reach.

Event Details
Venue: MASSIMODECARLO, Shop 03-205A & 205B & 206, Second Floor, Barrack Block, Tai Kwun, No. 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Date: March 24, 2025, to May 16, 2025

For more information, contact the press office at press@massimodecarlo.com or visit www.massimodecarlo.com.