[群島 Archipelago] 莊東橋 CHUANG TongChiao

水彩、紙、農作物、蛤蜊殼、野草、石子、土 aquarelle, paper, crop, clams shell, weed, pebbles, soil 尺寸依場地而定 dimension variable 2016

Kim WhanKi international festival Residency program 2016 @Anjaw island, Korea

I like to paint. I like abstract and expressive paintings. I enjoy nature and architecture. I like to walk, travel and wander. I like to express the upside of what I feel in an uncomplicated manner. I like the sense of space with ambiguity and openness in my work. All along, I have been searching for a dimension appropriate for it. I have been observing and pondering “the connection between the world and myself”, and the “scenery” is the medium for my exploration and expression of such connection. “Archipelago” is my artwork for the Kim WhanKi international art festival residency program 2016. The residence is on the Anjwa island, one of islands in Jeollanam-Do, Korea. When I took the ferry from Mokpo city to Anjwa island, the islands landscape inspired me. On the islands, I saw many farms, beaches, fishing vessels and ferries. The wild nature, agriculture and fisheries compose the landscape.

I used the aquarelle to draw the simplified landscape image on paper, and then I made also some scrapes (with simplified landscape image) by cutting on those drawings. Next, I used these scrapes to make some islands image with the geometric form. In the center of island, I putted the crops and a clam’s shell, which symbolize the agriculture and fisheries. The crops and weed that suspended on the drawing paper are also symbolized the agriculture and wild nature. The geometric form and expressive touch that I employed is to signify the organized nature and disorganized nature.

“Am I always safety in the landscape when I enjoy in?”

In some aspect, the landscape is represented the human’s control after fight and obey with the nature. However, is this kind of control always stable, or is it in fact very fragile? I try to ask myself these questions not only by employing the way of drawing, and also by using the way of chosen materials and the method for install the work.