ABOUT

Who is

"Isabella Summers"?

Isabella Summers is a multi-talented creator whose luxurious and groundbreaking artwork encapsulates the complexity of identity through an extraordinary experiment. Her unique practice melds the Eastern and Western traditions, blending elements such as Okinawan Awamori, Japanese Sake, Western Vodka and Chinese Moutai to create something entirely new.

An alumnus of Hong Kong Baptist University's Master of Visual Arts program, an Awardee of Hong Kong Chief Executive's Teaching Excellence, a best-selling Author and Celebrity Columnist, Isabella has received accolades all around the world, with her work being published in media and exhibited from China to Thailand, Japan, and beyond. Her global art collectors include world-renowned cellist Mr. Yo-Yo Ma and many more, who have been captivated by her luxuriously innovative approach.

Qualifications & Awards:

2000 Bachelor of Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University

2008 Master of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University

2010 Hong Kong Chief Executive's Teaching Excellence Award

2011 Hong Kong ICT Award

2014 RTHK Excellent Teacher Award Documentary

2014 she quitted her high-paid stable job and started her joyous nomadic adventure with her husband and children to experience different cultures in depth.

Since 2014, she has sojourned in Bangkok Thailand and Chengdu China; now they are residing in Okinawa, Japan.

Publications:

Bestselling Author & Artist- illustrations in her

bestselling books co-written with her husband

are all created by her included:

2011 "Trendy Pa Ma"

2012 "Slang 1"

2012 "Slang 2"

2013 "Slang 3"

2016 "Our Joyous Adventure in Thailand"

2017 "Let-go Parenting: Raisin elf-

empowered Kids"

2020"Joyous Nomadic Family"

Invited Columnist (2014 to now):

Bestselling Financial Magazine "iMoney",

Parenting Magazine "Oh! Pa Ma",

Spiritual Magazine "Sedona"

Born and bred in Hong Kong, a melting pot of Eastern and Western cultures, a fast-paced, innovative, competitive cosmopolitan city, Isabella was raised by one of the most traditional immigrant Teochew families.

During the 50s, many Teochew left home because of social instability, sailing away to earn a better living and mailing back letters along with money to feed their families. Isabella’s mom and dad were one of them.

Her destiny would be very different if her mom and dad did not choose to migrate to Hong Kong for a better life when Mainland China opened its borders to Hong Kong in the 1950s. Would they have met, fell in love, and gave birth to Isabella?

Life of new immigrants was a ‘Tale of Survival’. Running away from home with only a little in their pockets, Isabella’s parents strived hard to make ends meet and raise their children. Meanwhile, Isabella’s grandfather even needed to take her uncle to Thailand and look for a better life. Like many Teochew immigrants in Thailand, her grandfather used all he had to initiate a gold jewelry shop in Bangkok. He strived hard every day to survive in this foreign city, and the profits from the gold jewelry shop sufficed to support him and his 5 grandchildren.

Although they closed the gold jewellery shop after all his grandchildren became professionals, Isabella felt that somehow she’s still very connected with the family business. This is also the reason why gold leaf and jewels are often used in her paintings. In her own words, ‘The gold jewellery shop represents my family’s spirit of adventure, entrepreneurship, and the courage to overcome obstacles. The gold jewellery shop literally continues my family’s bloodline in a foreign place. To put gold in my art is my way to express my gratitude towards my ancestors and keep my family legacy’.

As for her dad, life in Hong Kong was no better. In order to better support his family, he decided to work in Mainland China. As he was often away from the family, mom thus took up both mom-and-dad roles in taking care of her 7 daughters plus her own mom - Isabella’s grandmother. Growing up in an all-female environment, Isabella went through the struggles of a family without having a male figure and learnt to “tough it up'' at a very young age.

During her university years, she saw how depression took her own sister’s life away. One year later, her beloved father passed away from cancer. Their consequent absences were a severe blow to her world. To youngsters who are in their early 20s, death is very distant. Yet, to Isabella, death just walked past her face to face. Their loss remains a taboo topic. Their names were often sealed off from conversation and left unspoken, even among family members, as if history of them being erased.

It explained why she chose Milan Kundera’s ‘Unbearable Lightness of Being’ & ‘Book of Laughter and Forgetting’ for her dissertation. At some point, she lost hope in life, disbelieved in love, questioned the meaning of life…just that nobody around her knew she was withering away inside. Even now, she doesn't like to talk about that part of her past; few know what she has been through and how she has walked past it.

While some better-off families could support their children to study abroad and live their dream, Isabella knew she’s not as fortunate. She knew that at the crossroads of her dream to be an artist and making a living, there was no choice but the latter.

Graduated after the Asian financial crisis buffeting Hong Kong from late 1997 until the end of 1999, she started working as a teacher in Hong Kong. In her 13-year of teaching, she strived as hard as she could to be perfect in it and not to make her family disappointed. And she did - winning Hong Kong Chief Executive’s Teaching Excellence Award and Hong Kong ICT Award, but she was not happy.

She knew that deep in her heart this was not what she’s supposed to be. In 2014, she decided to take a break at the peak of her career - she quit her high-paid job, left her birthplace, and started sojourning in Thailand and China for root searching. Only later did she find that she’s following her parents’ and even grandparents’ footsteps - she herself has become one of the many Teochew people in diaspora. Was her nomadic lifestyle by choice or by blood?

As she resides in Okinawa, Japan, she finally has the quiet time to slow down and face her own self - ‘With all the time you have, are you going to be an artist or not?’ she asked herself. It’s her dream but it’s also her ultimate fear. ‘Facing your fear is one of the most difficult experiences; nonetheless it is such an essential part of your self-growth and breakthrough. As you take time to peel off the layers of your fears, anxieties, and doubts, you finally get a glimpse at what lies beneath – your own truth,’ said Isabella.

To some people, it is only natural to follow their heart but to Isabella, it takes all her bravery to be an artist.

In love, there is no fear - art has become her way to narrate her nomadic stories and is her only approach to answer the complexities of heritage and identity, and the question of life and death.

The Story of Isabella Summers

Art Exhibitions & Projects:

2007 Art Exhibition, Hong Kong

2008 Art Exhibition at Times Square, Causeway Bay Hong Kong

2008 Mural Painting, Haven of Hope, Hong Kong

2021 Mural Painting, Japan

2021 NSK Food Photography Project: Art Director

2022 Guest Speaker on Art Investment, ETC Japan