Hilde Mertens

My journey, from oil painting, portraiture and pencil drawings to encounters with the work of Brice Marden, Cy Twombly and Mark Rothko led me to one simple question: Is a single line still art?

That question drew me into the thousands-year-old world of Chinese calligraphy, where a line is more than form, but carries energy, rhythm, movement and emptiness. Here, "beautiful writing" stands at the pinnacle of artistic expression, bringing together ink, poetry and the mind, shaped by Buddhist and Daoist thought.

My work explores how we can re-interpret the calligraphy of the past masters to reimagine and create new meaning, stories and culture.

Born in Belgium, I call Hong Kong and Asia home. With a master’s degree in Chinese & Economics and fluency in five languages, including Mandarin Chinese, I have worked across Beijing, Singapore, London, and Hong Kong in Investment and Private banking. And later moved into management consulting and high-performance leadership, while continuing my journey as an artist. I am an alumnus of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, a Board Member of Lingnan University, and hold a mediation certificate from the University of Hong Kong.

Pls. refer to my website below for an overview of my exhibitions at: Hang Lung Properties, Bloomberg, The Hong Kong Club, Le Meridien-Marriott and Jebsen

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