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36 / OUR COMMUNITY
Artist Career:
Viable or Impossible?
Art graduates struggle to become full-time artists
By Ariel Lai & Sarah Ryou
ou can’t survive simply A struggle to survive
by selling art creations, “It’s not cheap to rent a studio in
“Yunless you were born in Hong Kong. Art supplies are also very
a rich family,” says Jay Lau Ka-chun, expensive,” Lau says. “We often need You can’t survive
a Year Four fine arts student of the to take up other jobs to make more
Chinese University of Hong Kong money in order to strike a balance be- simply by selling
(CUHK). Lau thinks it is tween our income and expenditure.”
very difficult to make Lau also says it is hard for full-time art creations, unless
a living as a full-time artists to make ends meet if they
artist in Hong Kong lack the necessary connections in you were born in a
because of unstable the art industry such as gallery rich family
income and keen owners or curators. He says art-
competition. Making ists have to work day and night to
art in Hong Kong is build their career.
also very costly. Jay Lau Ka-chun Another final year fine arts stu-
