British-Chinese artist Gordon Cheung’s work is all about asking questions. Painting a nuanced picture of his inquisitive process, his art evinces an ongoing search for understanding in the world’s histories and, at the same time, deeper recognition of his own Hong Kong roots.

“I think my sense of belonging has always been in a kind of conflict, in respect to being British and Chinese,” Cheung says. “But I came to terms with that. I'm immersed in British culture, but over the decades it has increasingly become more about looking at my Chinese identity – trying to comprehend it, and discovering that I have very profound reasons to do so.”

We spoke to the artist during one of his visits back to Hong Kong where he paid a visit to his mother’s ancestral Tang clan village at Lung Yeuk Tau, located on a heritage hiking trail in Fanling. Cheung is also the 29th generation of his father’s Cheung clan –  his parents still live in the clan’s walled village. His lineage and connection to these historic clans in the New Territories is a topic he is looking to pursue for his next solo show at Hong Kong’s Gdm gallery, slated for next year. “Something had unlocked over the years for me to really search quite hard to discover those issues. I didn't realise how important it was,” he says.