Steph tried to make this whim come true in 2009, when she eventually returned from the United Kingdom after digging into figures for a few years in her financial investment industry while missing all the wonderful exhibitions every day during her stay in London. “There’re a lot of interesting art galleries and art exhibitions in London. All of them are about the daily life and so close to the people.”

Back to Hong Kong, art suddenly became so distant that she found very uneasy. “Galleries are very serious and all the works are freakingly expensive here. It seems everyone will look down on you if you’re slightly casually dressed for the exhibitions.”

So, she was wondering if it would be a relaxing and interesting idea to have pop-up exhibitions everywhere in Hong Kong when the city always emphasizes mobility.

Finally she founded “MobArt”, which has been holding for local artists a variety of art exhibitions in the coffee shops, hotel lobbies, restaurants, shopping malls and other open areas, even including, for example, a footbridge in North Point which was decorated with flowers and plants at last!

Then two years passed with 12 exhibitions, some of which earned overwhelming responses. But after all, this was not for living and her lifelong savings were gone while she felt so tired that she wanted to put off the idea. After thinking twice, not until last summer did Steph plan to give herself another chance: how can I give up so easily when I have such passion?

Then she changed the way and extended the artworks of some 100 artists into the furniture at affordable prices ranging from a thousand to tens of thousands Hong Kong dollars, in hope of setting the trend of bringing art back home. The pop-up shop recently set up in Sheung Wan is deliberately renovated as a cozy living area fully covered with the works by local artists, which may stimulate the customers to buy a piece of two for their dwellings.

Strenuous efforts are paid on selling paintings for the artists because of the simple down-to-earth idea that artists also have to make a living, and there is no better way to show our direct and explicit support by spending on their artpieces.

“Nearly all the local artists I know have their full-time jobs and this implies they only work on art after work,” exclaimed Steph who wants everyone to think seriously. “Why can’t people in this metropolis make a living through and work wholeheartedly on art?”

Exhibition at PMQ:MobArt Pop-up , S310, 3/F, Staunton, PMQ (Until 30.4.2015)