Object/Self – Hsu Yunghsu Solo Exhibition

My art is a severed part of my body. The birth of each piece is like a removed dissection of my lifespan. The dissections of time accumulate into artworks, thus encompassing a segment of my journey through life.
I don’t have to autograph my work. They are covered with my touch. If you come closer, you would even see my fingerprints. -Hsu Yunghsu

Returning to the intrinsic relationship between mankind and the land, while treating the body as the creative subject and concept, Hsu Yunghsu turns his artworks into profoundly powerful portraiture of artist. Traces of fingerprints cover his artworks, leaving marks of repeated molding, pressing and layering. From them, we see the determined gaze of Hsu, a tireless marathon runner and artist. He is like the mythical giant, Kuafu, who tried to capture the sun and pursued it until it sets in the west, letting his cane transform into lush forests, and his torso into vast mountains and rivers.

In 2021, Hsu won the Excellence Award in Taiwan Ceramics Awards, the highest honor for ceramics artists in Taiwan. Hsu uses clay as the medium. However, his style has an aesthetic appeal that is “anti-ceramic”, which is characterized by contrast and intensity. This trait places him in a class of his own in modern art. In 2008, he was awarded the Grand Prix at the 8th International Ceramics Competition Mino, Japan for Transcending Boundaries, making him the first artist from Taiwan to receive this honor. In 2018, he was elected as the international honorary member of International Academy of Ceramics (UNESCO), repeatedly gaining international recognitions.

“Object/Self” refers to the alternating roles between Hsu, the artist, and his works as the subject. This relationship between the two is likened to a conflict, to a duet, and more so to a union into one. He chose the most modest white or black clay, used the most primitive coiling, pinching and shaping techniques, and left a truthful chronicle on the surface of the artwork of the creative process, humidity of the environment, air flow, as well as bodily pain and fatigue. Reiterating a singular motion for a long period of time creates tension and variation, allowing the act of creating art to take on an instinctive nature like that of building nests. Every mark represents the distillation of his experience, emotions and memories in life.

Juming Museum featured Hsu twice in the past, the 2000 solo exhibition, Seat‧Seat‧Seat, and the 2011 joint exhibition, Material Language – Soil. This year’s exhibition marks the third of this beautiful decennial encounter. With over 20 pieces Hsu completed since 2013, it is also a testimony to his evolution. Spanning from indoor displays to outdoor installations, some are majestic while some are intricate. This body of work faithfully demonstrates the essence of his art from recent years. The Museum also prepared special hands-on programs for the visitors. The programs will lead them into a dialogue between their own hands and the clay, help them involve their own bodies in the viewing process and enrich their encounter with “Object/Self”.