Taiwanese artist Hsu Yung-hsu (徐永旭) made his debut at Art Basel Hong Kong (巴塞爾藝術展) with six of his works displayed at the art fair from May 27 to 29. Presented by Liang Gallery, the centerpiece of his works is a large-scale stoneware sculpture titled "2021-3."
According to the gallery, in the works of Hsu, "body" and "forms" are the primary elements that forms are produced by constant repetition and interactions between his body and clay. However, Hsu emphasized, "Forms are not my point when I am creating my works. The forms in my works are produced by constant repetition of movement through the neatest structure of clay."
The work forms of Hsu come from liberating his existing knowledge and educational training that liberate his body to produce the forms freely by the so-call "removing" by his definition. In other words, the point of his works is not in the form constructed through the creative consciousness of the artist. Instead, the contact process of his body and clay represent the "unstrained forms" that bond his body with clay and nature. Although these are hard work, his spirit is free and the free body is his ultimate desire of art.
Standing about 10 feet high and 8 feet wide, "2021-3" is a large installation made up of two 650-pound pieces stacked together in a swirling shape, which bonds the unrestrained nature of body and spirit. Hsu expressed his idea by repeating the molding and stacking process with his fingers and body, and his fingerprints can be seen throughout the piece.
Born in 1955 in Kaohsiung, Hsu was a schoolteacher and a Guzheng (Chinese plucked zither) player before he dived into the world of ceramic art at the age of 43. Hsu applies pinching and coiling techniques that require intense labor in the creative process.
Art Basel is an international art fair founded in 1970 in Basel, Switzerland, and is now held annually in Basel, Miami, Hong Kong, and Paris from 2022. The 2022 Art Basel Hong Kong featured over 130 galleries from 28 countries and territories.
(Photo courtesy of Liang Gallery)