The Art Meditator: Tsai Hsien-Yiu

The Art Meditator: Tsai Hsien-Yiu

 

by Ye Chu-Sheng

 

A multivariate, technological environment presents us with a variety of issues to probe into, while multivariate art methods and media leave artists with the major question of how to choose the best expression. Moreover, as life and the surroundings change, art demands constant innovation through mindfulness and the co-existence between the self, the environment, and nature. Paintings reflect the inner state of the painter; it is inevitable for the work to relate to the mental state, including issues such as the outlook towards life, values, and personality, of its creator. Therefore, when an artist is fully immersed in his or her work, the form of the artist truthfully manifests through artistic methods. It is not easy to lead an organized lifestyle between teaching, administrative work, and creative work; but Hsien-Yiu is among the few who manages to achieve this. Due to his attention towards the expression of natural materials and his fragmented work schedule, Tsai Hsien-Yu tidies his materials and tools on a daily basis so that he can enter the state of concentration in his studio within the shortest time possible. Tsai started studying materials when he was a student and manages to apply materials that are far from traditional and conservative. Tsai’s materials are all collected from nature and not art stores, refined and perfected with the precision of a scientist to return to the authentic and natural stated through materials.

 

 

Perhaps in the eyes of Hsien-Yiu, the creative process has turned into a practice that disciplines and refines the temperament, a process that continuously and repeatedly reflects on the inner and outer state of being, allowing him to guide the gaze inward, probe into the essence of nature and life, and reach a state of ease. The topics that catch his attention all come with discourse and research, and all of his works reach a certain quality and quantity. Throughout each stage, Tsai’s works are linked together with a common elegance; each created using natural materials and conducts a profound examination towards the evolution of nature. This process makes the artist similar to an alchemist; the process of creating art is a part of the work and Tsai’s meditation practice, with hopes that the work and creator can become one.

 

The works of Tsai Hsien-Yiu can roughly be sorted into four categories: material, philosophical, natural, and botanical. Black world, awarded with the 1986 Lion Art New Artist Award, was inspired by the mixture of charcoal and glue, materials used by intellectuals when writing and painting, capable of creating various effects and forms. However, Tsai seems to be unconcerned with the endless possibilities but instead focuses on ways to simplify the works. Tsai places the works in a container under the sun for the water to evaporate, leading to the glue to merge with the charcoal, creating the crystallization of ink. Natural shapes and cracks form on the crystal, leaving a rough surface with enchanting shimmer. Existence and non-existence are one, both leading to infinite possibilities and imaginations. Different artistic expressions are capable of shattering traditional painting elements and structures, direct and pure at the same time.

 

 

Life & Death: Revert (1989-1993), The Dynamic of the Primitive World (1993-1995), and  A roc (1996-1998) are philosophical reflections on life. The law and pattern of natural phenomena display the endless cycle of life where birth eternally accompanies death, constantly changing, like the perspective of the giant bird, seeing far and wide. All living creatures are tiny beings in the face of the vastness of the universe. It is nearly impossible to express questions about how to live a fulfilled and meaningful life through paintings or words; contemplations such as these may only be investigated through human wisdom. The artist uses organisms, symbols, and designs from the natural world to construct his image. The brushstrokes create a fluid background filled with mobility that forms a mysterious and poetic aura.

 

 

Exhibitions that explore the mystery of the natural world include The Magnetic Fields Image (1999-2001), Polar Region: The Mysterious Territory of Ice and Light (2005-2007), Sound of Natural (2009-2010), Falling on White (2011), Falling Leaves (2012), and Forms of Tree (2013-2015). The most extraordinary aspect of these exhibitions is its ability to present its uniqueness throughout different occasions. The physical qualities are observed through the eyes, while the metaphysical is seen through other senses, such as hearing and touch. Despite its mode of existence, human senses have limitations. Tsai Hsien-Yiu continues to expand into the unknown, developing endless possibilities. Whether the themes are old, new, good, or bad, is not worthy of consideration, since old and new are merely differences in concepts. The focal point is how the themes are applied and transformed. Personally, I am incredibly fond of Tsai’s works, but the career of an artist is a marathon, and I look forward to how Tsai expands his works. All of the issues above are important for an artist. The mentioned series of works used a variety of materials and automatic color techniques to grasp the changes and mysterious qualities of light and color; the artist’s nuanced examinations on plants lead to a sense of empathy towards the condition of the plant. The blooming and withering of flowers exist in a cycle, a state that also applies to other entities of this Earth. In the face of the forces of nature, one can only lament and praise. This positivity allows us a glimpse into Tsai’s attitude and perspective towards life.

 

 

As the name suggests, the exhibition The Reincarnation of Plants focuses on the concern towards plants. The collection of works showcased in this exhibition is great for plant catalogs used in observation and research purposes and contain sophisticated artistic qualities and techniques. The complex pictures handle the sophisticated composition of the images, with a coherent color scheme that doesn't emphasize realistic lighting and space, compressing the dramatic effects of the vision. This method expresses the subtle changes between sense and sensibility. The artist adopts an attitude not different from an alchemist when using colors; the color pigments are extracted by the artist himself and display a humble, deep, warm quality. The artist continues to discover new materials; for instance, the color black seen in the paintings are not created by oil pigments but scraped charcoal, soot, and glue, ground together and applied to the canvas. The artist is unique in the usage of pigments, and the special colors bring out different effects, allowing the artist to continue to expand and develop his methods. Before this, traditional artistic expressions require hand-painted methods, and works are reviewed according to the completeness of the image. However, as always, artist Tsai Hsien-Yu proposes a different concept and approach. Tsai often focuses on a certain theme but does not proceed with objective observation. Instead, Tsai adopts an openness that is almost automatic where the pigments roam freely on the canvas, allowing the colors to create natural changes, and only making revisions in the final stage. I believe this to be a good method because this process encourages creativity and presents alternative possibilities from the original process.

 

 

Perhaps viewers will wonder why the botanical series are presented as flat images, without any sense of three-dimensional quality. I suppose this has to do with what Tsai wishes to express and the theme that he is interested in. When observing his work, I feel as if Tsai is depicting a plant within a fossil, which is naturally different from the living plants we see in the natural world, with vibrant color and intense lighting. The plants are instead, enwrapped with magma, hence its flat, print-like appearance. Some friends of mine share their thoughts on why Tsai’s works emit a sense of peacefulness that guides the viewer into contemplation. They believe that the artist removes the dynamic elements from the image, approaching the images with a sense of humbleness that encourages viewers to enter a state of tranquility. When observing the works, it is as if we are from the same tree, the “form” of the tree that Tsai emphasizes. This form evolves into different trees filled with leaves. What is the reason behind so many trees? For Tsai Hsien-Yiu, “a single leaf equals a tree, while a whole tree is seen in one leaf,” forming his view on plants throughout natural laws. Viewers notice the withering, birth and death, the unending cycle of life through the appearance of leaves; each ending is a new beginning, silently filled with energy. This process of leaves – trees – body – senses – expression is similar to the practice of a meditator, creating the artwork of reflection and introspection, presenting the best through the balance between art and mind.

Oasis: Group Exhibition of Zhi-Hao LO, Yi-Ting SU, and Wei-Wen CHEN

Oasis: Group Exhibition of Zhi-Hao LO, Yi-Ting SU, and Wei-Wen CHEN

 

We all have a secret Utopia hidden deep in our hearts, a land that allows us to roam freely, filled with dreams in their purest forms. This space is like an oasis in the desert, safeguarding all that is good. Three young artists, Zhi-Hao LO, Yi-Ting SU, and Wei-Wen CHEN, present their own spiritual oasis through varying painting methods, sharing the most profound moments and allowing us to inspect ourselves through the annotations of lush lands, resonating to the oasis in the hearts of viewers.

 

Zhi-Hao LO uses elements from the natural world to reflect phenomena that surround daily life. Symbolic objects are placed within the works in different compositions to articulate the nuanced state of ongoing or completed incidents, connecting and echoing the simplest human interactions. LO’s paintings emit a light and burdenless atmosphere that allows viewers to inspect the works in a relaxed manner; viewers may realize that what the works depict are familiar states in our own lives.

 

Yi-Ting SU searches for everyday materials or objects that have the possibility of harboring memories. SU’s works attempt to discover familiar landscapes within memories of traveling between urban and countryside settings. Throughout the travels, clear and blurred memories constantly flash by; the works are endeavors of the artist to search for a method to document fleeting moments amid perplexing realities and memories. The fiber material used in the works have become a carrier for memories, reproducing the lucid and blurry perspectives of life. The personal urban images are presented through the reproduction methods of fiber images.

 

With windows, Arowana, and aquatic plants, Wei-Wen CHEN weaves a land of intertwined time and space. The windows separate reality into interior and exterior times and spaces while the Red Arowana pass through history with a mysterious and ancient veil, gracefully, elegantly, and freely moving between the fluidity of time created by the aquatic plants, waving with the tides. Since everything leaves a mark, with the changes in space and the proceeding of time, memories become profound, creating a unique four-dimensional space.

Internal Visions and Responses of the Mind: Chuang Lien Tung Solo Exhibition

Internal Visions and Responses of the Mind: Chuang Lien Tung Solo Exhibition

When examining the existence and appearance of concrete objects through their external characteristics and extending deep into meaning through clarifying internal states, we apply the vision of the physical eye for the former, and vision of the mind in the latter. The vision of the physical eye observes objective form, understanding regularities and experiencing appeals, while the vision of the mind develops subjective interpretation with thoughts continuously circulating and imaginations endlessly extending.

Chuang Lien Tung’s 2017 exhibition displays new understandings towards the vision of objects within the external world. By combining the visual and imagery speculation on the vision of the eye with that of the mind, Chuang conducts the internal vision towards the inner state of mind. With implications of external objects and the multiple possibilities in the relationship between that object and other objects, the artist infers a painting vocabulary that conforms with the current social environment and expresses personal subjective consciousness and image interpretation.

Therefore, the images depicted in Chuang’s works are all agents for transmitting messages. Apart from the metaphorical vocabulary of the image themselves, the works are also spokespersons for specific meanings. This meaning might refer to a reflection of the essence of humanity, but also a discussion that probes into social phenomena. Naturally, investigations targeted at the core of the problems are profound observations of life of artist Chuang Lien Tung. Hence, the images have become a reflection of the artist’s transference and expressions that not only match personal states of the mind but also reflect collective opinions. The correspondence of the “Turtle” can be the variation of any object or transformed into any composition, filled with freedom of imagination. The self-observation through “Fish” either inflates or belittles the self, reflecting with either clarity or obscurity, presenting authentic representations of the different appearances of life in this world. The mutual influence between the “Lizard” and “Statue of the Buddha,” the self-transformation of the “Flower” and the “Butterfly,” all express the differences between varying perspectives.

“Internal visions” are inner sensations reflected by observations on the eternal world, while “responses of the mind” are expressions displayed from the induction of the mind. In the eyes of the painter, the rule of circulation in the universe and the state of operation in the world are hidden in the lives of tiny creatures.

Sin Titulo: Hsieh Chi-Chang Solo Exhibition

   “Sin Titulo: Hsieh Chi-Chang Solo Exhibition” is the display of a series of works inspired by my living aesthetic abroad and life experiences after returning to Taiwan. As the creative process unfolds, simple scribbles and graffiti transform into energies of abstract plastic arts, attempting to construct realistic space and document memories using symbols, abstract calligraphy, and incidents of everyday life.

 

 

In general, western philosophy tends to stress the discussion of concepts and the analysis of language, viewing philosophy as pure speculation and discourse. Chinese philosophy, however, focuses on personal experiences and the cultivation of body and mind, interpreting philosophy as a way of life. In other words, Chinese art emphasizes metaphysical beauty, while western art is a series of pursuits aimed at changes in form. Noting this difference, I have combined the concepts and expressions of Chinese and western art in my works. Professor Liu Feng-Jung reviewed my works in his article as: “a unique annotation of form and color that conveys the artist’s accomplishments in ink and wash paintings, western aesthetics, abstract paintings, and the artist’s training and education in Spain. Hsieh applies the western concepts of instinct, emblems, symbols and forms, imaginations and psychoanalysis, and Kant’s theory of play, while also stressing the arrangement of illusion and reality, black and white, or the configuration of the subject and background, movement of brushstrokes, and the flow of curved lines. Geometric boats, buildings that symbol the home space, or floating shapes that are both semi- and non-figurative are seen within the abstract works of the artist, giving the viewers a sensation as if merging into the vast and void world of ink and wash paintings…”

 

 

   This exhibition presents the “Travel and Architecture Series,” “Calligraphy and Nature Series,” and “Abstract: Sleep Diary Series.” These works were completed between 2013 and 2016. Some were finished after on and off work; some works took months to complete, while others took up to one year. After going through construction, destruction, and reconstruction, the memories of the manuscript undergo recollection and free coverings. Ultimately, the artist’s subconscious usually becomes the source of inspiration. This drawing pattern born through intuition and playful expression results in mixed lines and symbols that hint to time and space, intertwining and forming into “quasi-maps.”

 

 

Diaries and unconscious graffiti drafts remind the artist of past events. Without planning and arrangements in advance, everything gradually comes to form along with the creation process. From the moment the paintbrush touches the surface, the small portion gradually extends into shape, slowly growing at will in space. With calligraphic graffiti and shapes that form occasionally and automatically, I pay attention to the nuances throughout the creative process, hoping that the final work will be able to present the painting process, just like the scene of an ongoing march.

 

 

With silhouettes of boats, houses, and ladders that resemble the shape and form of written characters, I attempt to create an atmosphere that involves symbolic elements. These are symbols of memories and emotions, also documentations of emotional traces. The black silhouette designs, calligraphic graffiti, mechanic lines, and contrasting colors, scatter randomly on the image as if a moving map. The spilling of oil-based liquids creates an ambiguous dialogue with space. This mystical atmosphere quietly motions and continuously extends through the density, size, and color of lines, continually stretching and covered with mingled images and lines, naturally displaying the motives of the artist. The strong emotions carve deep into the works, growing and spreading, giving missions to the symbols of the scene.