Mel Cheong

Born in Macau at the intersection of Portuguese heritage and Chinese culture, my practice explores the architectural potential of 3D paper sculpture. Following a monumental site-specific commission for the Galaxy Hotel Macau and two public installations for the Macau Cultural Art Center, my work bridges the heritage of European exploration with the meditative precision of traditional Japanese Mokuhanga.

I am driven by the spirit of 15th-century Portuguese sailors—who sailed not to conquer, but to understand. After a decade in the rigid world of metal etching, I found a new language in wood. Wood is an honest, living medium; it captures exactly who I was in the moment of carving.

My work is anchored by Prussian Blue, a pigment bridging the azulejos of my ancestors with the masterpieces of Hokusai. My central motif, the origami boat, symbolizes human resilience within the Sahā World—the Buddhist realm of endurance. By hand-sculpting sun-dried Washi into deep reliefs, I invite the viewer to enter a "kaleidoscope garden" where paper commands space and interacts with light.

In my studio, I embrace the paradox of repetition without replication: though the ritual remains the same, the hand never moves the same way twice. Like Alice in ...

BA in English Communications at the University of Macau

【Selected Installation】

“Pleased as Fruit Punch”, February 2024, Galaxy Art Gallery, Macao

Collective Exhibition of Macao Visual Arts: “Escape from the Torrent (Sahā World)” – Macao Cultural Institute (2024)

"Curiouser & Curiouser - A Ladder to Find Alice", August 2023, Macao Tower, Macao

"Peony Delight", September 2022, Grand Lisboa Palace, Macao

"No One can Stop Me from Dreaming", December 2021, Macao Cultural Center, Macao

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