When fantasy worlds are mentioned, people think of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, works that discuss people’s relationship with nature. Taiwanese lacquer artist Aihua Hsia employs traditional Japanese lacquer as her medium to build a mysterious fantasy realm of collective consciousness, filled with spirits and messengers, opening a road that allows nature and the mind to link and communicate with each other. MOT/ARTS will launch her first solo exhibition, A Convalescence Realm, displaying her new creations after her time as a resident artist in New York. On the opening day, a forum will be held at 4 pm. Former secretary-general of the Taiwan Art Gallery Association Chu Ting-yi and senior curator and art critic Chin Ya-chun will be invited to share the world of re-enchantment with the audience.
A Convalescence Realm series originates from a mysterious clinic Hsia encountered when she was busy working in New York. When Hsia suffered from a sore throat, her doctor determined that the illness was a result of her body resisting her environment. After she returned to Asia, which was familiar to her, Hsia went on a stroll in a fresh, undisturbed, and ancient forest at Kamikochi, Japan. An orange palm-sized frog that was supposed to have been hibernating rolled out of the bush until it landed beside her foot, and it seemed to have been delivering some important information. Suddenly, every flower and every moss seemed to be conjuring magic, healing the artist’s soul of its exhaustion from the earthly world. This amazing encounter led Hsia to display her spiritual dialogue through an ancient material, lacquer. As the artist has mentioned in her descriptions of her artistic creation, “There is always a clinic in my subconscious. It has been trying to diagnose and treat the messages sent from my body. Perhaps this clinic may appear in reality if necessary. That’s why I use the most appropriate material to present the convalescence realm in my mind, hoping to give modern society a little room for convalescence.”
A work of lacquer must go through a complex procedure, from layers of lacquer application to drying in the shade. The process of drying relies on the temperature and the moisture of the environment, which may affect the ultimate coloring. Creating a single lacquer work may take months, or even a year. It is an original and close connection with nature. The focus of this exhibition is the relationship between humans, nature, and spirits, and the animal images of the artist are personified in allegorical ways. For instance, “tapirs” eat people’s nightmares at night to help cleanse human souls and dissolve the negative thoughts derived from the gap between self and reality. “Elephants” are patient and spiritual, so they can help shy children. “Moss” cleanses all evil thoughts. All of the spirits and messengers absorb a large amount of negative energy in the earthly world. Their bodies are so swollen and twisted that they are in need of purification and convalescence. Hsia’s concept of creation mirrors polytheism, where people worshipped multiple deities in ancient times. It is a reawakening of people’s link with spirits and nature in rational society.
Born in Taipei in 1973, Hsia graduated from the graduate institute of Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, specializing in the “hollow dry lacquer method.” She has been invited to be a resident artist and has exhibited her works in the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea. Her works are collected by Okinawa Prefectural Art Museum, Nasunogahara International Sculpture Symposium and Lazarea Castle of Romania. With her unique artistic ideas and creations, Hsia returns to the most original psychological need people have towards natural power, innovating new techniques from tradition. Since its establishment in 2008, MOT/ARTS has held true to its original purpose of displaying the persistence and depth of artists, creating a better tomorrow with them.
Image: © Aihua Hsia, MOT/ARTS
