奇美博物館 | CHIMEI Museum

“Huang Tu-Shui was born into a family of carpenters in Mengjia (now Wanhua District), Taipei. Since a young age, he had shown a natural talent for wood carving. Huang displayed astonishing talent with his skills and accomplishments, and apart from wood and rock carving, he also created his own unique style after observing the strengths of other artists. His artistic creation began with folk art, but he then incorporated solid academic training and absorbed the sculpture concepts of Auguste Rodin from France, finally achieving maturity in his sculpture skills. His creative themes were focused on the exploration of local Taiwanese scenes and customs, especially the works in the Water Buffalo series, which are the most appealing. In 1930, Huang passed away in Japan due to overwork. He was 36 years old at the time.” Source : Official website of TFAM Collections 

This bust depicts the mother of Dr. Chen Chun-Po, director of Changchun Hospital (second surgical outpatient clinic) that was located at No. 32, Section 1, Kaifeng St., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City. It is a representation of the unwavering perseverance that was unique to Taiwanese women during the Japanese colonial era. The work was created in 1944, and in 2008 it became a part of the National Taiwan Museum of Arts' collection in Taichung.

This piece has an enormous presence; it is full of volume, texture, emotions, and tension. Therefore, it has been described as being more Rodin than Rodin's own work.

In fact, most of Pu's busts were of famous political and business personages, social leaders, and medical elites. These people held certain influence all around Taiwan, and these faithful and artistic depictions immortalize the social outlook at the time.

Stepping into Pu's sculpture studio to observe the many busts feels like reading the history of famous Taiwanese personages from early days. People certainly are astonished by this micro-representation of Taiwanese society that spans over half a century from before the arrival of the R.O.C. government. (Text/Pu Hao-Ming)

Chen Hsia-Yu was born in Longjing Township, Taichung County. He enjoyed making puppets since a young age. At age 17, after seeing the Japanese sculptor Hori Shunji making a portrait for his grandfather, Chen decided to pursue art as a life path. In 1935, he went to Japan to study under Tetsuya Mizutani and learned realist techniques. He then continued his studies under Fujii Kouyuu. From age 22, he entered the Japanese Imperial Exhibition several times with sculptures of women. He returned to Taiwan after World War II and retired in Taichung. He is a senior member in Taiwan’s sculpture community. Source : TFAM Collections

While inheriting the tradition, the creator is also challenged to think about how to break free from its constraints and emerge as something new after the impact of the Eastern and Western cultures. I attempt to gradually imbue the modern realism aesthetics concept of human body proportions into the traditional, so that tradition and innovation can merge and become a new type of aesthetics, in turn, find my own individual style of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary art creation.

Before I create a work, I ensure that I have a full understanding of its features and picture the possibilities of the various forms in mind. Once inspiration comes, I represent the form through painting. Through the process of painting stroke by stroke, I deepen the style of the design to crystallize the essence of the characters.

In "Micro-Role Play - League of Superheroes," the works show the heads of virtual game characters placed on top of scrawny bodies, serving as an interpretation of the desire of ordinary and unobtrusive people who imagine themselves as superheroes, as well as the contrast between dream and reality. It implies the gap between the role player and the virtual superhero. The standing position has been selected to eliminate the need to present body postures. In the use of this fixed standing form, it has avoided producing unintended messages through body language. The human bodies that are expressed through a viscous fluidity and the murkiness effect have removed possible similarities to action figures, instead of presenting certain parts that may have been forgotten when one is engrossed in a game. It is the hope that the presentation of the works in the "virtual micro-role play series" can serve as a warning of sorts.

An extremely realistic wood sculpture under intuitive experience - what is referred to when it comes to the intention of an item's (object) replica? In the face of such reference, what has the replicated object transformed into? In a serious sense, is it still the original object itself?

This tedious and time-consuming creative act can be seen as a memory sketch or lyric profile for oneself or a particular person, but perhaps it should be seen more as a purely emotional result of artistic practice. It is based on a simple reappearance of faith, expressing an absolute loyalty when observing the object, without any addition to any creation or judgment of styling or aesthetics.

Roller garage doors are common sights around the streets of Taipei, some are real garages, but mostly it is a part of the wall that has been turned into a garage door in order to occupy the space in front of it. It is a declaration and a shared acquiescence. The work hints at a space that doesn't exist, just like the garage.

Fire hydrants can be easily disappeared in the exhibition venue, if they did not come with glaring flashing lights.

Taking the encounters of various conflicts of consciousness in current society as the main idea. Paying attention to the scene of life powerlessness caused by social development, Lin Chen-Shun elaborates the art form and content that changes with the time by observing and analyzing the characteristics of the great environment of the times. He further incorporate contemporary thinking and views into his sculptures to clarify the various phenomena shown in the contemporary era.

Lin is good at "human" as the core of his creation. His artistic creation is nothing more than focusing on humanity and care and attention to nature. The subject matter and ideas can be summarized as "people and people," "human and nature" and "Inside and outside". In an attempt to explore social phenomena, Lin attempts to grasp the sense of official, mind, and cognition of personal and material worlds, and to show them in their creations, so that art works can convey a broader experience and imagery. The image conveyed by art is not only the expression of personal life, but also the creator's direct experience through his senses and cognition, completely released, projected on the work, and finally reflected in the viewer, and even in response to society.