Drawing

Titled 素描 (sumiao, "drawing" or "sketch"), this 2024 screen print on Somerset paper translates Cheung's calligraphic and ink-wash practice into the flat planographic medium of silkscreen. The Chinese term sumiao refers historically to preliminary brush studies — the drawn line as the foundation of pictorial thought — and the work's classification under the Calligraphy tag suggests the print preserves the gestural cadence and tonal modulation of brush-on-paper. Somerset, a heavyweight cotton mould-made sheet, accepts dense ink layers without warping, allowing screen-printed strokes to retain a depth approximating washed [sumi](/glossary/sumi). The piece reflects Cheung's stated self-identification as a calligrapher and ink-wash painter who treats the print as one tool among several. Within his body of work, sheets like this represent a recurring concern: using a reproductive print process to fix a single, unrepeatable brush gesture, in keeping with the cooperative ethos of the Hong Kong Open Printshop, which he co-founded in 2000 to bridge classical East Asian mark-making with contemporary print technique.