Introduction
Introduction of the Biennial
Established in 1983, the International Biennial Print Exhibit: R.O.C. is one of
the
longest
running international print exhibitions in the world today. The mission of the event is
to promote international cultural exchange, and to strengthen the mutual understanding
of artistic values between the East and the West. The exhibition also gathers up the
crème de la crème of works created by printmakers from around the world, which in turn
elevates the practices and standards of printmaking artistry in our own country. The
cumulative effect of these decades of effort has garnered an enthusiastic response and
support from international printmakers. The biennial event has not only contributed to
Taiwanese printmaking creativity and practices, but has also attained a level of respect
and affirmation as a main international event in printmaking art.
Over the years, the International Biennial Print Exhibit: R.O.C. has provided a
broad
platform for domestic and international printmakers. The colliding of creative
printmaking concepts along with developments in creative techniques, and the emergence
of digitalization has brought about a shift in traditional printmaking content and
methods of expression. These changes in the appearance of traditional printmaking
display a different artistic characteristic. Coupled with the reflections of
contemporary artists on socials concerns expressed in their work, print art has entered
a new era. The exhibition also serves as a bridge connecting Taiwanese artists to the
world international printmaking, and has nurtured many excellent printmaking talents.
The process of the event: a call for submissions, organizing the exhibition as well as
art seminars, greatly boosts the production and development of printmaking in Taiwan.
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My canvas space exists in a
virtual 3-Dimensional space on a
personal computer (PC). First, I
build many 3D objects, arrange
them in a distributed manner,
and start making a work by
experimenting with various
viewpoints and combinations.
There will be a lot of
“encounter and discovery by
chance”. “What a serendipitous
opportunity!” The pursuit of a
creative world inspired by this
accidental scene is always at
the core of my concept of art
creation. It is, so to speak, an
inspirational “serendipity” in
my daily life.
I dialog with the 3D digital
world through the PC display.
That is, the machine and I are
trying to work together
collaborating to interact each
other and make creative
coincidence. This practical
process of using collage
techniques provokes the
synchronicity of reality and
subconsciousness, inspires my
artistic creativity and stirs
the imagination of the endless
future.
Three different perspectives are important to me in creative work. The Human: I treat a human as a form of organic matter. This organicity determines not only the development of the shape of the same form, but it affects the environment, and the entire composition. The Nature: Nature is an important inspiration in my work. Reaching to antiquity, according to Aristotle, the word “nature” refers both to material things, as well as to its essence, the force perceptible with mind. The Culture: During the long history of societies, certain material and mental acquits has been accumulated. For me, culture horizon are man-made objects. Such shapes appear in my compositions as elements of the form.
Woodcut printing has always
maintained a close relationship
with societies in contemporary
history, with civic campaigns,
democratic movements and
political reforms all leaving
their footprints through this
medium. In the 1930s, writer LU
Xun set up a woodcut workshop
and viewed it as a tool for
critiquing realities and
reflecting lives at the bottom
social echelon.
During the war in China against
Japanese invasion, woodcut as a
movement turned radical. Oil
paint and xuan paper were scarce
due to material shortages, but
woodblocks and carving knives
used for woodcut were easy to
obtain; this convenient artistic
medium became an effective
propaganda tool for the
Communist Party during the war
times.
Leftist artists leverage the
dramatic tension created by
woodcut images and its rapid
printing speed to express their
political ideals.
In 2020, I now document the
anti-regime movement taking
place in Hong Kong using the
leftist woodcut concept.
When I had been crying for a month and drawn sketch for new works, my mother who passed away came and whispered to me “Remember….” in my sketch. It was very simple and silent experience for me. I think this is the sincere part of humanity......“remember me”.
I have been formulated a visual expression which combines symbols from various cultures and spiritualities. My work introduces a specific form of gathering, a state of in-between, faith and science, discoveries and amnesia, liberation and imprisonment. The image contains familiar faces but in rather strange context. The composition gives a sense of harmony, order, and chaos all combined. My work usually highlights these characteristics to invite the viewers to see a state of nature, where all inconsistencies can make sense in a single platform, in hope the discussion will circulate and go further across the consequences, and the greatest witness and affected are merely humans, not nature.
Anyone who doesn't believe in
miracles is not a realist. -
David Ben-Gurion.
In my work, it is possible to
recognize some situations as if
they were memories, but there
are also certain unexpected
aspects: A character that floats
in the air and holds others, a
frame that frames the portrait
of a stranger who looks at us,
boys jumping for the pleasure of
jumping, doing piss, vomiting,
flying, spinning. I put in
evidence my preference for
presenting in parallel what is
wrong and what is right. I use
the experience of studying urban
environments and some local
references from the countryside
near the place I live in. This
way, I propose a precarious
balance in the image between
what can be recognized and what
is absurd, what is politically
correct against what goes out of
the rules. My work implies a
commitment to suggest certain
circumstances that arise as a
possibility.
From the saying “The weak become extinct but if they can, they rule the world,” “man” can be described as the greatest of the living things. Mankind uses nature to determine their way of living through objective reality and imagined reality. Man creates objective forms and meanings through symbols, all of which are related to nature. This has been passed on from one generation to another until now. At the same time, man has not given anything in return to nature and the world even once….
My inspiration for the Existence series comes from my walk in the park, where the sight of dead branches and fallen petals on the ground brought to mind how they had been thriving with vigor just a short while ago. I wish to remind people to slow down their busy lives, pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning of life. This series applies the technique of multiple press on a single plate.
Plants climb all over the subject; the right half is bursting with life, while only intertwining vines remain on the left. Some leaves still struggle to grow where the two halves meet; two states-birth and death-are amalgamated. Although a static image is presented visually, ceaselessly repetition and circulation persist behind. This is very much like our life, where relationships between people are always in a dynamic state; it is impossible for one to remain in one place or interact with only a fixed group of people throughout one's entire life; changes become inevitable with the slightest collisions. We are free to come and go; perhaps by chance we stay, or contrarily we are forced to leave for some reason--what remains after we have left? Everyone may have different answers, but everyone is left with memories. Some have vivid memories, some refuse to remember and bury them deep inside. I shape these memories into a space that is magnificent yet eerie, tranquil yet deterring.
Don't pore over my work if you
believe that life is a plain and
strength freeway. For it is not.
We are all born travelers,
damned to go on without knowing
the destination. The course of
the tiring miles of never-ending
roads is full of sudden
U-turnsand dangerous twists.
The country dotted with rich
meadows and verdurous fields
along with the quiet, still and
harmonious appearing ducolic
life casts a spell on us. But
rarely do we slow down.
Sometimes we despise our
compulsive mobility. But do we
ever stop? And where do we
eventually reach? We keep
circling over a self-made mirage
like a kite which rounds atop
the carrion.
Our chase down the will-o-the
wispy Lane often makes us change
our stripes. Having lost the
angelic pursuits, the journey
from a lesser human to a
cannibalistic demon becomes the
most traversed pathway.
Topography of the Wall is the view of the World
The woodcut prints that I am submitting for this competition have been inspired by the contemplation of a certain visual fragment of the cityscape. The significance of a visual fragment lies in the fact that it sets in motion visual forces and establishes relations within our field of vision, at the same time generating relations within the composition of a visual work. The visual fragment acts only as an impetus or precondition for the process to be set in motion.
I was people-watching in the corner of a café in the transit area of Shinjuku station, Tokyo. Stations are hubs of people, each moving towards their destination. All of these people are passengers, a moving stage with no ending in this still image, and all those who come on stage stop briefly, each with their uniqueness. The lines in my work are attempts to capture these fleeting sceneries, exploring the movements in time and space. The subjects of my observation repeatedly appear in the same space, leaving traces behind, their bodies softened by the movement, no longer stiff and rigid. These images are repeatedly produced through prints.
Regarding the way of life of Chinese-Thai descent people combined with symbolic forms of art and culture expressed in the traditional celebration, as well as colors and architectural designs in the Chinese Buddhist place, they reflect the cultural identity of Thai-Chinese. Cultural heritages inherited from ancestors to my generation and the overlapping of culture is the point of inspiration in the beginning of creativity caused by the impression. The charm of the combination of traditions, culture, and the co-living circumstance of the two ethnic groups result in a society overlap with the diversity of two cultures combined together. As we obviously see the exquisite skill of Chinese porcelain manufacturing since the past, the Chinese porcelain consists of 5 types of ancient Chinese colors, including white, yellow, black, red and green (indigo), attracting Thai people to see the classic.
In my works, I depict things to myself, such as personal events and emotions. “I” who feels depressed, “I” who wants to dance - multiple selves exist within me, but I often have the feeling of wanting to fire beams from my eyes. This work is an expression of a self who is asking for a chance to get out of his situation, but can't stand it and is rampaging.
