She was as giddy as a school girl when I asked her to tell me about her art. Wei-Hui Hsu created her piece with cosmetic facial masks. The ones you wet and put on your face to clean your pores and free you from acne. “What? No way, you’ve got to be kidding me!” I said as my jaw dropped in amazement. "How creative!" I mean who would have thought of something like that? She dyes the facial masks different colors and uses a special glue to shape them into a face-shaped object. Her creation "Smiling Face as a Flower" is delicately layered. As thin and meticulous as a god-made flower It's extremely impressive that this was made by human hands. She tells me the layers are symbolic of the wrinkles that people get when they age. If you look closely you can see a face imprinted on the back. Her other installments include “Camouflage” which is a life-sized dress, shoes, and purse made out of facial masks. They all entail horrific faces similar to Edvard Munch’s "The Scream". This comments on the anxiety that women feel about their appearance.
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| Smiling Face as a Flower |
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| Camouflage Dress |
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| Camouflage Purse |
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| Camouflage Shoes |
So captivated by her ideals and talent I almost forgot that I was at the Young Art Taipei Contemporary Art Fair and I had other pieces to observe. The Young Art Taipei Contemporary Art Fair is the very first contemporary art fair in Asia that focus on young artist under the age of 45. This fair aims to be a platform for contemporary art in Asia held each year held at the Sheraton Hotel in Taipei. Each hotel room located on the 9th floor served as an art gallery displaying art from Approximately 60 galleries mostly all over Asia and a couple of other countries. The countries represented were Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia, America, Singapore, and China.
As I looked around
the hotel room. Wei-Hui Hsu graciously served as my translator, when asking
about the other artist’s work in the room. Egene Koo from Korea also one of the
winners of The Young Art Award. ( An honor only granted to six artist) deeply
struck me with awe and amusement. Her animal-headed humans could be considered
eerie to some but her strategic use of the color red and meticulous attention
to detail compels you to step closer and loose yourself in her work. She draws
her inspiration from Hans Christian Anderson stories.
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| Never ending Childhood |
“ Human Love” is the
phrase uttered by Hiroshi Mori when I asked him what inspires his work. Hiroshi
spoke limited English but I as I stood teary-eyed in front of his paintings I
was able to feel what he was trying to convey. It brought back memories of my
own childhood and the innocence and simplicity of life back then coupled with
the elegance of nature.
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| Favorite Place: Keep on Believing |
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| Favorite Place: Boy and Girl |
“I can’t tell you
much about his inspiration because he is autistic and doesn’t talk.” His
representative said to me. Ming Yeh only 19 uses colors so valiant and vibrant
it screams out at you. There is no denying his painting’s presence. The
representative also tells me her other client 21 year old Chi-Jen Huang also
autistic does hours of research on the internet and produces a storyboard like
scenario. “ He always knows
exactly what he wants to draw. He uses pen and never makes a mistake.” Ming Yeh and Chi-Jen Huang work with Luminance Art Space. Luminance aims to help mentally disabled people express their creativity attain independence through their art, and serve as a spiritual bridge of communication between disabled and non-disabled people.
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| Ming Yeh |
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| Beside the Pool |
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| Chi-Jen Haung |
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| Maya Superman |
Tomohiro Takagi’s works consists of well-organized composition and delicately made depiction is something to be marveled at. His European-influenced surrealist style poses philosophical and eschatological questions between humans and animals.
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| The Wood of Fallen Birds |
Rae Chou’s piece
“Summer on the Beach” called me into the room as I walked by. It’s friendly
aura is reminiscent of a Margaret Keane paining with slightly smaller eyes. Her
subject matter and use of color has a calming effect on the soul.
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| Summer on the Beach |
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| In Chanel In Spring |
“Reading Habits” by
Shih Yung-Chun is described by
lamenting a life you wish you had. Each head represents a different personality
that the man in the painting can try on at any given time as if he is taking on
different personalities. It’s a way of describing his non-conformist attitude
toward society.
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| Reading Habits C-Interview |
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| Reading Habits D-File Drawer |
There were so many
immensely talented artist at the Young Art Taipei Art Fair my only regret is
that I couldn’t write about all of them. Observing paintings and sculptures the
entire evening I kept thinking. It’s amazing how I couldn’t communicate with
these artists via speaking with them ( Some were absent, or spoke another
language other than English) but that didn’t matter they still were able to
touch me deeply with their art. Art is a language all it’s own. I can’t
remember the last time I felt so moved, touched and inspired.
The Young Art Taipei 2012
aims to be a platform for contemporary art in Asia the next one will be held in
May 2013.
Galleries and Artists and
Works Featured in the Article
Wei-Hui Hsu
Exhibited by the Keumsan
Gallery (Seoul, Korea)
(more info can be found at) www.weihuihsu.com
Egene Koo
Exhibited by the Keumsan
Gallery (Seoul, Korea)
Featured works: Neverending
Childhood Oil on Canvas 162x112cm 2011
Shin Yung-Chung
Exhibited by the PiaoPiao
Gallery (Taipei, Taiwan)
"Reading Habits" C-Interview Acrylic on canvas 60x72.5m
"Reading Habits" D-file drawer Acrylic on canvas 60x72.5m
"Reading Habits" C-Interview Acrylic on canvas 60x72.5m
"Reading Habits" D-file drawer Acrylic on canvas 60x72.5m
(more works can be seen at) http://www.flickr.com/photos/clm0072/sets/
Contact : piaopiao.art@gmail.com
Tomohiro Takagi
Exhibited by the Elsa Art Center (Taipei, Taiwan)
(More works can be seen at) http://www.elsaart.com.tw/elsaart/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55%3A-tomohirotakagi&catid=10&Itemid=15&lang=en
“The Wood of Fallen Birds”
194x130cm Oil on Canvas 2011
Hiroshi Mori
Exhibited by Gallery Yuki-Sis
(Tokyo, Japan)
Featured works: “Favorite
Place” Boy and Girl 116.7x116.7 acrylic, oil and urethane on canvas
“Favorite Place” Keep on
Believing 100.0x100.0 acrylic, oil and urethane on canvas
Ming Yeh and Chi-Jen Huang
Represented by Luminance Art
Space
art0080@gmail.com
"Beside the Pool" 130x163cm oil on canvas 2012 Ming Yeh
"Maya Superman" 54.5x78.8cm ink on paper 2012 Chi-Jen Huang
art0080@gmail.com
"Beside the Pool" 130x163cm oil on canvas 2012 Ming Yeh
"Maya Superman" 54.5x78.8cm ink on paper 2012 Chi-Jen Huang
Rae Chou
Exhibited by Boss Art Gallery
9 (Taipei. Taiwan)
Featured Works: “In Chanel,
In Spring” 50x42cm, acrylic on
canvas, private collection 2011
“Summer on the Beach”
88x108cm acrylic on canvas, private collection 2011
