A 77-year-old retiree has impressed the local arts community with his innovative method of painting, which employs nails and tin cans rather than paints and paintbrushes.
Despite his interest in art, Hu Ta-hua (胡達華) chose to sell machine parts as his career and waited until he retired — about 17 years ago — to pursue his passion.
As nails and cans played a large part in Hu’s life, he decided to use the materials to create something different, which he calls “nail paintings” or “metal mosaics.”
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
Hu first cuts patterns from discarded beer or soft drink cans before arranging and pinning them to a canvas with nails. It takes about a month to complete a piece.
Most of Hu’s multimedia collages feature the scenery of Keelung County and his hometown, New Taipei City’s Jioufen District (九份).
During his 17 years of painting, Hu has created more than 200 works and has participated in numerous exhibitions.
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
One of his much-acclaimed works is a 450cm by 60cm piece titled Keelung: The City of Rain (雨都基隆), which is composed of more than 10,000 tin pieces and vividly depicts the surroundings of Keelung Port.
The painting was the highlight of an exhibition held by the Keelung Municipal Cultural Center in 2011, which displayed 42 of Hu’s works.
People interested in seeing Hu’s innovative paintings can visit the Hsinchu Art Gallery, where an exhibition featuring Hu’s work and those of other painters is being held until June 1.
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