Page 243 - 臺中市第二十六屆大墩美展專輯

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Crafts
Juror's Statement, Crafts Category CHUANG Po-Ho

Dating from more than two thousand years ago, The Arti cers' Record teaches us about production methods for the crafts and how these originated in
everyday life. It was only later that the crafts gradually evolved into an art form to satisfy mankind's aesthetic needs. Hence, the Da Dun Fine Arts Exhibition
regards the crafts as a form of ne art, naturally focusing on their aesthetics and creative purpose.
This year, the Crafts Category of the Da Dun Fine Arts Exhibition received 88 works, seven of which came from overseas, namely three from Mongolia and
one from Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia each. After the preliminary review, 13 works were selected by the ve jurors, HSU Mei-Ing, LIEN Pao Tsai,
HUANG Li-Shu, LIOU Chen-Chou, and CHUANG Po-Ho. In the end, 12 works entered the nal review and were all awarded with a prize (the top three winners,
two Award of Merit recipients, and 7 shortlisted works).
These crafts all meet the highest standards and cover a variety of techniques and materials, but the most outstanding of these is lacquerware. Around one
hundred years have passed since the Japanese introduced lacquer trees from Vietnam in 1914 and established a crafts education center in Taichung in 1916,
so the development of lacquerware in Taiwan started much later than that of other crafts. Therefore, the outstanding performance of such art form in this
year's exhibition is especially noteworthy in terms of crafts history in Taiwan. Below is a brief review of the award-winning works:
The First Prize winner is Golden Rain by HUANG Shin-Chang. The artist adopts a traditional gilding technique, carving lines on a black ground and then
lling them in with gold leaf or gold powder to produce neat, gorgeous linear gold patterns. In spite of being two-dimensional, the composition is awless.
The dense drizzle is so vivid that one can nearly hear the rhythm of rain drops and sound of splashes.
The Second Prize winner is Medium of memories II by HO Chia-Ying. Through means such as ornamental metalwork and transfer printing, the artist
attempts to render and construct personal travel memories using symbols and images. This work is a set of four pieces in which multiple materials and varying
techniques are employed, making it rich in vocabulary and expression.
The Third Prize winner is Lacquer Inro-Type Cases and Ornament with Gold-Powder Decoration of Carp by Yuika Yamauchi.
Before becoming an art form, the inro was a traditional Japanese craft, a small case fastened onto a belt that served to hold medicine or seals. This work
combines all sorts of lacquer decoration techniques. The most special of these are Maki-e, Taka Maki-e, Miao Jin (trace or outline in gold) and Raden. Natural
elements, such as fallen maple leaves, stones, and water ripples, are used as the theme, while the koi sh on the vessel body and dragon pattern on the handle
together represent the traditional Chinese symbol for success, "koi jumping through the dragon gate".
One of the two Award of Merit winners is LUNG Mei-Chun's The most beautiful encounter in the journey of life II. The artist attempts to present a multi-
perspective work that looks like a painting when viewed from the top and a three-dimensional landscape when seen from the side. To achieve this, she used
various lacquer decoration techniques, such as Kawari-Nuri and gold leaf gilding, on a black ground to create the light and shadow of the scenery.
The other winner of the Award of Merit is Perceiving by CHEN Kai-Jing. The artist expertly applied gilded lacquer decoration techniques to depict the main
gure like a tattoo. The artist said, "In one of Ryunosuke Akutagawa's stories, a spider's thread is lowered from Paradise to help a man escape from Hell. It is
tough enough to bear the weight of the myriad sentient beings seeking relief from Hell's su ering. However, the thread suddenly snaps and vanishes upon
the moment when an sel sh thought arises."

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