US-based Taiwanese artists Cynthia Chuang (莊蕙芳) and Tsai Erh-ping (蔡爾平) announced the establishment of a "regional platform for the arts" last Saturday, as a means of establishing a better connection between Taiwan and the international arts scene.
The event was held at Taipei's Imperial Hotel, and was attended by Secretary-General of the National Cultural Association Chen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀), a former culture minister, who invited the two artists to contribute their expertise to developing Taiwan's arts community.
Tsai and Chuang, who are husband and wife, began their careers as art students in the US, and have now established themselves after picking up a number of prestigious art awards in the US, where they were selected as "Outstanding American Artists" in 1993, and currently operate a workshop with more than 20 staff.
PHOTO: CHEN CHIEN-HONG, TAIPEI TIMES
It is the couple's ability to leverage their creativity into a commercially viable form that most appears to Taiwan's cultural authorities, and Chen has on previous occasions asked Tsai to set up display and sales centers for artwork in Taiwan, so that work that is now much sought after in the US will also be available to art lovers in Taiwan. This will form the basis of a "regional platform for the arts" that was announced last weekend at the Imperial Hotel.
As Tsai said, "artistic creativity can be enjoyable, and it is through this enjoyment from which creativity arises."
Many of Tsai's works are in keeping with this spirit of playfulness, and on display Saturday were Tsai's series of lizards made from clay, metal and semi-precious stones, that gave Tsai career its breakthrough in the early 1990s.
Tsai said that this art is to some extent derived from his humble artistic background; when he first started to work in the US, he was unable to afford to rent a large studio and therefore decided to work on clay and semi-precious stones, which required less space.
Tsai has drawn his themes from nature, focusing on creating all kinds of insects, butterflies, fireflies and lizards from a variety of materials. These intricately formed figures mix basic sculptural techniques with metal work and koji ceramic work, giving them a unique character.
Tsai said he believes that art can cure physical illness and also act as a balm for the spirit.
"If you are willing to dream, there is nothing you can't achieve," he said.
He said that he worries that Taiwan still has a shortage of creativity and enthusiasm for art, and that many Taiwanese have lost their childhood.
"People may look young on the outside, but often their spirit is old," he said.
In comparing the arts scene in the US and Taiwan, Chuang said that the creative industry in the US is valued at US$1.2 billion per annum, which is almost as high as vegetable and fruit production in the US -- an industry with an annual value of US$1.3 billion. Viewed in this way, Taiwan still has a long way to go, with the creative industry lagging far behind every other sector.
The husband and wife said that although they had worked for many years in the US, they feel a close sense of affinity with the land of their birth and they hoped to plant the seeds of artistic growth in Taiwan.
Tsai pointed out that art and life are inseparable. For him, artistic inspiration comes from a close observation of nature, and his memories of the natural environment of his childhood.
In Long Island, New York, Tsai has recreated the garden of his memory, and is a noted horticulturalist, despite his lack of formal training in this field. His two-acre plot is renowned for the variety of plants and the presence of some spectacular hybrids that he has developed himself. For Tsai, horticulture and sculpture are both artistic and creative endeavors, and are ways of expressing the world around him.
Chuang said that although the task of expanding Taiwan's artistic enterprise is a difficult one, but that someone has to take the first step. She hoped that their new "regional platform for the arts" would assist Taiwan in connecting with the wider artistic community around the world.
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