Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
Hong Kong illustrator Maf Cheung recalled the silly moment when her friend’s cat sat under a chair and stared at her pup.
“My dog is extremely introverted and not social at all. Eevee is one of those cats that bullies the weak but fears the strong,” said Cheung, who is in her 30s. “Since my Yorkie was bigger, Eevee gave her this sceptical look and chose a ... safe spot.”
That moment inspired Cheung to draw a giant version of Eevee peeking through a bridge in Causeway Bay. The massive feline makes a passing green tram look as small as a toy.
This was the first piece in Cheung’s “Hong Kong Giant Animal Series”. These pieces imagine oversized animals roaming around the city.
She started working on this series in 2022. In 2023, she published 90 of these pieces in a book.
Reimagining Hong Kong
When Cheung was in primary school, her best friends weren’t her classmates. They were her dad’s pets: goldfish, koi, turtles, birds, chinchillas and even hawks.
“I spent more time with those animals than I did playing with other kids,” she said.
That is why animals are so important in her art.
“These are the beings I trust,” Cheung explained.
Her art also focuses on places in Hong Kong that are disappearing or already gone. For example, she has drawn Queen’s Pier, the old Hung Hom MTR station, and the neon signs of Nam Cheong Pawn Shop and Leung Tim Choppers Factory.
One of her pieces features a giant sparrow at the former Hung Hom station.
“A fan messaged me and said, ‘It’s perfect that you drew a sparrow there because, in my experience, the sparrows at Hung Hom are the fattest in all of Hong Kong because they eat McDonald’s,’” Cheung said.
Mix of reality and fantasy
Cheung’s art mixes what is real with what is fantasy. She said that the dreamlike parts of her work also showed her emotions.
Cheung gave the example of her favourite piece in her giant animal series. It shows a flying squirrel saving a girl at Lei Tak Estate.
“That piece was actually about processing my own negative emotions at the time. A lot was happening in Hong Kong then, and I was feeling overwhelmed,” she said.
“I imagined – what if in that moment, a giant flying squirrel came to save me? That idea brought me comfort.”
