P017 → The Rationality of Warmth
Drawing inspiration from the fresh fruit cuts stacked and displayed in a typical glass fridge in Taiwan’s traditional ice and fruit juice shops, I started to create geometric and block sculptures using hand-building pottery techniques. Graphic design has always been an important element of my work. First, I make digital sketches on the computer, trying out different arrangements of various geometric shapes, only to then convert the 2D graphics into three-dimensional sculptures. After the originally two-dimensional shapes are given depth and enter the world of 3D, viewing angles become much more diverse, and new possibilities to combine and arrange them with one another arise.
Although each piece is crafted by hand, I persistently strive to avoid a ‘handmade impression’ by being as neat and smooth as possible and pursuing the pure and perfect shape I have in mind. That being said, I can only ever keep trying, but I will never reach absolute ‘perfection’. Anxiously and slowly I carve out my ceramics, trying to take care of every small detail. I enjoy these moments as they make troubles and bad feelings disappear.
More recently, ‘simplification’ has been one of my main concerns during the creative process. Erasing every hint at their handmade origins, simplifying their shape, and flattening the glaze simplifies my artwork. Sometimes, a ‘simple’ piece of art can accommodate even more imagination and meaning. As someone who has always felt awkward about public speaking, I at times worry that my work might reveal too much of my thoughts. Can a world of straight lines, curves, angles, and radians hide certain emotions or hint at feelings?
In my work, I try to represent an open and accessible state. The arrangement and stacking of the pieces, as well as the relationship between the ready-made objects and their environment all manifest a free and liberating approach. Over the course of this process, I try to capture a harmonious state between them.
-Excerpt from the artist's statement for the 2018 duo exhibition "The Rationality of Warm Tones."
從台灣傳統冰菓室冰櫃中堆疊的水果切塊獲得靈感,我開始用陶版技法製作幾何、塊狀的雕塑。平面設計一直是我作品中重要的元素,我在電腦上先行繪製作品的版型,嘗試各種幾何圖形的排列,再把平面圖形轉化為立體雕塑。本來二維的圖形加了高度,進入3D的世界,觀看的角度變得多元,組合排列多了更多的可能性。
雖然每件作品皆為手塑而成,但我總是一味地追求「去手感」,盡量地工整、不停地打磨,心中彷彿有一個純淨、完美的形,而我只能不斷地逼近,但永遠無法到達那「完美」的狀態。一邊焦急,一邊緩慢地雕琢著作品,盡量照顧到每個細節,我享受這樣的時刻,彷彿把生活中許多的煩心事也一併磨掉了。
「減法」是我近期創作時惦記在心的,把手感抹除掉、化繁為簡的造型、釉色的平塗等,試圖讓作品簡化,有時候,簡單可以包含更多的想像。一如在人面前講話總感到彆扭的我,也怕作品吐露了太多心事。直線、曲線、角度、弧度組成的世界,能不能隱藏著某些情緒或暗示一些感受?
試圖讓作品呈現一種開放的狀態,作品間的排列、堆疊,和現成物及環境的關係,都呈現一種自由的態度,而我試圖在其中捕捉某種和諧的狀態。
-節錄自2018年雙人展 「暖色調的理性」 的創作自述