Supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) and Art Bank Taiwan have co-organized an exhibition titled “From the Island: Mountains, Land, and Oceans” to present the works of nine Taiwanese artists, from December 16, 2020 to November 30, 2021. The exhibition includes works by artists of different generations, born from the 1930s to the 1980s, presenting their perspectives on Taiwan that range from detailed depictions of its mountains, fields, coasts, and seas to their respect and love for the land in oil on canvas, printing inks on woodblock, drift wood and iron wire, woodcut, and etchings. The vitality of the landscapes shines through in their creative works, which are also expressions of love for this island. Before Twin Oaks is re-opened to the public following the covid-19 pandemic, a detail booklet and QR code voice guide are available on TECRO’s web site at https://www.taiwanembassy.org/us_en/index.html for a preview. TECRO welcomes the public to pay a visit to Twin Oaks to view the exhibition in person when the post-pandemic situation permits.
TECRO Representative Bi-khim Hsiao stated, “The Twin Oaks Estate is a place of history and elegance and has played a crucial role in promoting the bilateral relationship for more than eight decades. Since she was appointed to serve in Washington DC, she has made it a priority to enhance Taiwan’s cultural visibility. This exhibition is the second display of Taiwanese contemporary art at Twin Oaks, yet on a larger scale. The purpose of the exhibition is to provide an opportunity for the American people to gain a better understanding of Taiwan’s contemporary artists, its geographic environment, as well as to promote cultural exchanges.
Art Bank Taiwan said the inspiration for the exhibition comes from an acclaimed Taiwanese poet, Xiang Yang, in his poem “Homeland of the Clouds”, which described the scene he saw at dawn on the top of Yushan—the highest mountain in Taiwan—it is as if we could see with our own eyes the untouched mountains and seas. We feel tempted to be surrounded by them and bathed in the morning sun. Taiwan is endowed with a unique natural environment of mountains, oceans, and islands. Taiwanese people’s life and livelihood are closely linked with the geography of where they live, which has shaped local cultures and respect for nature.
In geography, there are 238 mountain peaks over 3,000 meters high in Taiwan. With a sense of social mission as an artist, Lin Hsin-Yueh paints the island’s natural features. Skillfully capturing the changing lights and shades, his Valley portrays the unique colors of a stream in a shaded valley, creating a fascinating wonderland in a gentle and realistic approach. The rich forest ecosystems in Taiwan’s mountains are precious natural resources. An assortment of such natural endowments can be found in Ho Huey-Chih’s Yushan, which vividly depicts the peak of Yushan—a symbol of the Taiwan spirit—and the diverse species in the mountain. Meanwhile, mountains can signify spiritual elevation. The dense mountain forest and ascending mist in Liu Chia Wei’s Wandering I remind viewers of the sense of freedom a carefree wanderer feels when traveling in nature.
To describe the relationship between land and people, artist Huang Ming-Chang’s detailed and skillful depictions of waves of rice in fields denote the untouched beauty of the island. The artist started to develop his Rice Field Series in 1986 and has since been an observer of the botanical and geographical landscapes of Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries. Etan Pavavalung pays homage to lilies and the ancestral spirits of his people in Lilies That Look at Distant Place, an artwork that celebrates the reverence for mountains and land. Su Yu-Ting’s copperplate engravings, on the other hand, put together the ecological and socio-cultural features of several places in northern Taiwan, combining them with her imagination to create landscapes that cannot be found elsewhere.
Taiwan is surrounded by waters and lives off the sea. Stones and sand on the coasts of southern and eastern Taiwan have long been the focus of Chou Chu-Wang’s artworks. On sandy beaches and estuaries that lie between the land and the sea, the painter details the gravels that form the unique face of each coast. Iyo Kacaw uses driftwood as the medium for his art pieces, assembling these woodblocks collected from nature to rebuild the energy of life from oceans. The scenery of the island’s coasts and seas is rendered in bright colors in Li Yu-Chen’s carving and printing experiments, in which she attempts to preserve the geographical features along the coasts and the changing colors of the seas she saw while traveling across Taiwan.
The year round event is curated by Art Bank Taiwan as part of the collaborations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China (Taiwan). (E)
Enclosure：” From the Island: Mountains, Land, and Oceans” Exhibition poster and booklet and QR code voice guide
