Certificate of Authenticity

The locals often pray to the God of War to seek loyalty, righteousness, and good business acumen/strategy. Additionally, martial artists worship Guan Yu as a superior general in the art of fighting. It is interesting to note that even police stations have a shrine dedicated to Guan Yu. This practice may seem ironic, but members of the triads and Heaven and Earth Society also worship Guan Yu. Statues utilised by the triads typically depict Guan Yu holding a halberd in the left hand, while the statues in police stations depict him holding the halberd in the right hand. The notion of Guan Yu's red face possibly originated from a description of him in the historical novel, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." The novel portrays him as follows: "Xuande took a look at the man, who stood at a height of nine chi, and had a two chi long beard; his face was the colour of a dark zao, with red and plump lips; his eyes were like those of a crimson phoenix, and his eyebrows resembled reclining silkworms." Emotional context: Re-framing Hong Kong’s celestial effigies: the current depictions of local statues and representations of these persons of mythological status has taken a somewhat remedial turn. Child like illustrations, folk like paintwork with badly rendered faces (immature representations) on the statues within the temples of Hong Kong and China. i have taken it upon myself to seek out these representations and present them using modern techniques imparting power, reverence and beauty back into these images. A little foreboding and a touch of fear will help sell these presentations.