Long before human activity appeared on Earth, ferns had already taken root in the planet’s primordial landscapes, growing in damp and shadowed places. Reproducing through spores, they have silently carried this ancient form of life forward across the vastness of time. Taking ferns as the curatorial axis, Into the Fern Glow seeks to awaken a latent journey of perception—not approaching the artists directly through their places of birth or identities, but appealing instead to a more hidden realm of shared physiological experience: humidity, the body, urban memory, and dreams. In collaboration with Hong Kong–based independent curator Jims Lam (Lam Chi-hang), RIVER ART GALLERY brings together artists from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, inviting them to begin from the shared East Asian monsoon climate and transform into artistic expression the collective experiences born from the long-term presence of humidity in everyday life—the distinctive scents it carries, the sensation of moisture upon the skin, and the shifting scenes of mist. In contrast to a contemporary life defined by constant online output and perpetual visibility, the exhibition seeks to explore a form of spiritual retreat particular to the “offline condition of East Asia’s humid civilization.”
➤ Xinran Liu, The Irresistible Desire of You to Devour, 2026, Oil on Parchment, 70 x 60
Entering the Dream-Ecologies of Seven Artists
Moving through corridors and stairways, the scattered daylight from the atrium, distant views at the end of long passageways, and ferns quietly growing in the corners together create a drifting experience suspended between reality and illusion. The journey begins with oil paintings on parchment by Chinese artist Xinran Liu, evoking the searing radiance of sunlight, before turning beneath the atrium, where one encounters Hong Kong artist Ngai Wing Lam beside a pool from the 1930s, and then entering Hilarie Hon’s psychic darkroom, where the mind seems to drift through the cosmos. The rhythm of the exhibition’s spatial journey unfolds like a forest of dreams, drawing viewers through the layered spaces of the gallery itself. Ascending to the second floor, a series of dreamlike swimming pools painted by Wai Lap Chan emanate an ambiguous sense of moisture; while the fossil imagery articulated by Taiwanese artist Cheng Yen Yu resembles some material trace left behind by the sedimentation of time. Crossing the atrium corridor, Liao Wen brings the body into a ruin-like architectural setting through a multimedia installation, probing the boundary between body and environment through an encounter with walls and space. Finally, within a series of inner-vision botanical charts created by Taiwanese artist Hsiao-Ai Wang, an inner garden emerges—one through which the artist reflects upon the real world.
➤ NGAI Wing Lam Ant, We Met by The Fountain in 1930s, 2026, Oil on Wood Panel, 30 x 45 cm
➤ Hilarie Hon, A way of flying, 2026, Mixed Media on Canvas, Plywood Box, 50 x 121 x 5.5
➤ Cheng Yen Yu, Spiritual Fossils - Philosopher's Stone #8, 2026, Mixed Media on Canvas, 90 x 90
➤ Wai Lap Chan, Dreaming of swimming pools 18 , 2026, Pencil and Colour Pencil on Paper, 54 x 54, 64.6 x 64.6 (framed)
Shaping an Experiential Realm of Subtle Glow in the Dark
The recurring “Fern” elements throughout the exhibition refer to ferns, ancient plants that grow in damp and shaded environments, while also concealing the imagery of the “electric sheep.” The former is an ancient life form that grows in darkness, while the latter serves as a metaphor for the artificial life produced by technological civilization. Together, they form a contrast between the real and the illusory, much like contemporary humanity’s dependence on technology, carrying a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty akin to the afterimage of urban neon or the reflection of a screen in the depths of night. The curatorial team therefore invited a professional lighting designer to create an experience of subtle illumination throughout the exhibition, capturing elusive images that spread silently and disappear in an instant. The “glow”—a form of light perceptible only in darkness—is woven into the space, while the word “into” becomes a conscious act, inviting viewers to briefly withdraw from a state of perpetual connectivity and enter this subconscious forest that calls forth a primordial awareness.
➤ Liao Wen, Hypnic Jerk, 2026, Ceramic, Polyurethane, Chinese Toona, Cherry Wood, Qingtian Stone, Porous Copper Foam, Graphite, Sponge, Leather, Linen, 50 x 20 x 25
