Lau Kwok Hung (劉國洪) is a versatile artist primarily engaged in metalwork and Chinese calligraphy. His personality and art have a strong dialogical stamp and are open to cross-cultural exchange. The word 洪 [hung], having the radical 氵-water-means: “torrential water” or “flood.” However, this word also means fire, describing the heat of the furnace, evoking the image of fire and glowing lava flows. The synergy and intensity encapsulated in the meaning of his name can be found in his creations, whether they are iron sculptures forged by fire or ideograms traced on the paper by ink. Hung discovered and cultivated his talent in Hong Kong, his hometown. In his early days he began his wanderings around the world and learned various artistic disciplines until 1990. In this year, while in Switzerland he discovers the incredible creative potential of the blowtorch. For his art it is a true Eureka, a point of no return that permanently changes his artistic path. Interwoven with sheet metal and metal rods welded together, Hung’s figures refract in the dark and break free into space through lines of force, intense and vibrant. The result of the “rediscovery of fire” in his art, the sculptures tell the story of his experience. They convey its hopes, tenacity and become bearers of memories and messages. The work “Promised Land,” for example, reinterprets the episode of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt in a key that highlights a burning and highly topical issue of migration. In addition to participating in international art symposiums, creating site-specific works (even of monumental dimensions) and collaborating on multi-art projects, Hung has always made himself close to those who approach him. Not infrequently, while the audience is visiting, his calligrapher’s desk becomes a generative place, of dialogues and friendships. The reciprocity of exchange and the internationality of the place are also visibly expressed on the facade of his atelier, where the word “art” appears in more than sixty idioms. With a presence in Loppiano for 20 years, his studio occupies an area of four hundred square meters and consists of three main spaces: the shed for art and craft production, a permanent but ever-evolving exhibition, and a classroom for seminars and meetings that has the allure of the Far East. Recently Atelier Hung has dedicated itself to creating a series of products for the Made in Loppiano initiative. These are decorative iron elements that draw on centuries-old Chinese tradition and serve the function of furnishing accessories.