Hong Kong‐based illustrator, Bo Law, is the artist behind the new mural, A Pet Utopia, at the SPCA Jockey Club Centennial Centre, and is known for his whimsical and colourful anime-style illustrations and murals.
Drawing inspiration from his surroundings, his murals often feature the cityscape of Hong Kong and has attracted collaborations with some big names such as HKMOA, HSBC , Hang Seng bank, Pocari Sweat, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Foodpanda and more.
This particular piece drew from Bo’s childhood memories and reflects SPCA’s vision where all animals are treated with compassion and respect. It’s a whimsical portrayal of animals and people living in harmony in Hong Kong. We chatted with him to learn more about A Pet Utopia and the animals that inspired this creation.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
And how would you describe your style of art?
I let my imagination of a world with animals roam freely.
I would describe my art style as “versatile”. I don’t have a fixed style per se, I simply express my thoughts and stay true to them.
What is your relationship with animals?
Do you have any pets of your own?
I had three dogs when I was young, and I was particularly close with one of them. His name was Bobby, a Cocker Spaniel. My parents saw him chained up in the back alley of a local cafe and felt sorry for him. After getting the restaurant owner’s consent, they adopted him. Bobby had quite a temper – as a family of six, everyone (except me) had been bitten by him. [I didn’t do anything] in particular [to win him over] I just played with him more often, thus spending more time together.
Every day, my dogs welcomed everyone home with much enthusiasm. They created a lot of fond memories and kept the household busy and lively. For instance, there was a time they stole a chicken from the offerings during my parent’s worship ceremony, and the chicken was already devoured when we discovered it, [which I found funny].
The dogs would throw tantrums after every grooming session, causing chaos around the house and ignoring everyone while hiding in a corner. [Despite these antics,] when they were sick, they would come to me for cuddles and comfort. Although these were just little things in our daily lives, [both the good and the bad have become] collective memories and are still talked about to this day within the family.
What do you want viewers to take away from this piece, A Pet Utopia?
Pets are living beings and important companions. I strongly resonate with the saying “a pet is just a part of your life, but you are their entire world.” Creating this piece made me think of my time with my dogs when I was young and all the happy memories they gave me. These memories were accumulated from our daily interactions, and I only realised, as a grown-up, that these everyday moments were my only connections to them – very simple yet invaluable.
In the final design, I pieced all these fragments of memories together in a surrealistic way, imagining my pets are with me wherever I go. I painted the ordinary daily happenings with vibrant colours and hoped it could create a happy, cheerful effect, just like my memories.
We know you work with a lot of corporations – How was working with the SPCA different?
Different corporations have different requirements, so each collaboration is a challenge for myself – how can I maximise my creativity within the brief but without limiting my imagination.
I started with my personal memories this time, so there were no limitations. The main focus was simply to highlight the joy and everyday moments of life.
Visitors to the SPCA Jockey Club Centennial Centre may see the 4.64m x 2.5m masterpiece in person on the second floor.
To see more of Bo’s work
follow him on instagram
