Gravity of Thought

Type

Solo Exhibition

Year

2017

Exhibition Essay

My practice is a purgative act — a means to escape, unravel, document, and carve space for personal revelations. Gravity of Thought, my first solo exhibition, establishes new foundations anchored somewhere between the cultural, philosophical, and emotional. This body of work emerges from a yearning to honour the weight of familial heritage while wrestling with the layered complexities of second-generation guilt. At its core, these explorations seek to reclaim pride and empowerment, while navigating the intricate dance between devotion and reconciliation.

Here, talismanic symbols of my Taiwanese upbringing materialise, grounding me through chapters of adversity. They serve as stabilising forces, meditative offerings to stillness; an attempt at poise while tethered to the edge of uncertainty.

This exhibition unfolds as a dialogue: works on paper with rendered sculptures. Together, they map a duality, exploring facets of diligence, ritual, and the unspoken expectations of filial piety. On paper, Chinese idioms are painted in enamel, calligraphic forms drawn from Qing Dynasty Nine Fold seal script. These phrases, gifts from my elders and fragments uncovered through research, murmur energies that have sustained me through hardship:

Equable / Inaudible / Subtle.

The state of vacancy
Stillness guarded with unwearying vigour.
Gravity is the root of lightness
Stillness, the ruler of movement.
Foundation of dignity.
Seeking tranquility.
To have an intricate side.
To have a strict and self restrained side.
To have a prudent and apprehensive side.
To have a resolute and unyielding side.
To not sway easily upon influence.

These inscriptions echo reverence at once fleeting and enduring. Fragility meets fortitude, wavering yet steady. The sculptural works provide a counterweight. Standing as abstracted self-portraits, they are layered, textured, and unapologetically assertive. Heavy and rooted, they occupy space as physical manifestations of a pluralistic disposition.

To recognise myself — so I am.

思想之鑰

(一個人的思想就如同一把獨特的鑰匙,是開啟內心的一把鎖,通往認識自己的大門。鎖的內部有許多繁複的凹槽和突起,象徵著每個人不同的人格特質。我們擁有不同的優勢與特質,而這些都是我們最初的模樣,我們卻常常逃避它,甚至否定它。當我們真正肯定了這把鑰匙的價值,正視與接納上頭的刻痕與突起,真心擁抱自己的優勢與不完美,鎖與鑰匙才能由此契合,自我認識的大門也才能被開啟。)

我的創作過程是對生命傾瀉式的反思,我從中不斷地探索自我,歷經多次蛻變後的展現。

{ 思想之鑰 } 透過文化和哲學的體悟來尋 找人生的著力點。身為背負著上一代期 望的第二代移民,我確實的體認到學習 中華傳統文化的重要性;由此我得以從 祖先所流傳下來的文化智慧中覓得力量 的泉源,同時也引以為豪,這就是我此 次的探索與創作的初衷。

此次展覽主要聚焦於我從中華文化當中 所得到的人生體悟,尋找能依靠的避風 港,讓自己能重整旗鼓,在紛擾的滾滾 紅塵中得以平衡並逢甘霖,梳理出寧靜 祥和的心境。

此展覽透過兩種相對性的表達方式呈 現,分別以紙上作品, 和經過粉刷後的 雕塑品來表達。

紙上作品以瓷漆為媒介,以書法的形式 來呈現中國「秦王朝」的九疊篆,這些 成語和詞彙都是我生命中珍貴的滋養, 它們部分來自前輩引導時所賜予的期 勉,部分從研究中尋得,使我在面臨磨 難考驗時,還能在心中存著一股對生命 的熱忱與希望。

這些紙上作品塑造了虔敬的氛圍,使我 能從中生發力量並獲得肯定感。 在平和的、無聲的、微妙的──「無」 的狀態。在寧靜祥和的狀態中仍保有不隨時間消 逝的活力與熱情。 當我們能泰然地接納多面貌的自己,寧 靜與光明便隨之產生。 思想是萬物運行的主宰、亦是尊嚴的磐 石。 尋找寧靜狀態的同時,也接納自己多元 的面貌。 接納自己是多層面的,可以是嚴格自律 的,更可以是謹慎多愁或堅定不屈的。 當我們能客觀地看待自己,不任意做出 評論的同時,我們的內心將不再輕易因 他人的批評而波濤洶湧。

大型雕塑作品在此意喻著抽象的自我剖 析,在文化上與個人精神層面上都擁抱 著自己的多重性,也藉著這樣多元的特 性更認識最初的自己。相對於精細呈現 的紙上作品,這些雕塑作品宣告著它們 顯而易見的份量以及歷久不衰的意義。

在尋找自我的路上,重新認識自己