CHU Fang-Yi｜Anderson Ranch Arts Center - Arts Residency Network Taiwan 藝術進駐網

Location	USA / Colorado
Residency	Anderson Ranch Arts Center
Year of the Grant	2006
Work	Objects Memory Series
Personal Website	CHU Fang-Yi's Personal Website

CHU Fang-Yi, born in Taipei, 1976. She has MFA in Graduate Institute of Applied Arts, Tainan National University of the Arts. She lives and works in Taipei. She was invited to Belgium Ceramics Biennale for residency in 2010, Anderson Ranch Arts Center in 2009, and Yingge Ceramics Museum in 2007.

Artist Statement:

I interpret objects as three-dimensional images, media for expressing subjective consciousness and emotions. Objects represent memories, emotions, and imaginations inspired by surroundings. I adopt images of living items from ancient history until now, and transform those images into abstractive contour through deformation, division. and reformation of images. Thus, people will seek familiar figures that exist in their minds, and those figures have been shared by people in forms of memory, emotion, imagination, and language.

I strongly believe that we have memory and a fondness towards some images in our subconscious. One image doesn’t always remind us of exactly the same experience and memory; on the contrary, similar experiences and memories may not reflect on the same image. Images can be simple and abstract symbols of objects, communicating through sharing language. I hope to continue recalling the deeply hidden visual images and memories in peoples’ minds through these objects.

Anderson Arts Center is nearly 40 years old. It has state-of-the art facilities for a variety of media and is quite renowned in the international art field. Artists from all parts of the world follow the center’s open call every year – one can tell how competitive the selection process is. The center has a particularly strong and deep-rooted tradition in ceramic art. It is said to be a Mecca for most ceramic artists. I had hoped to acquire more information and interact with artists from other countries. I wanted to internalize my multicultural experiences and apply them in my future work.

After talking with a few artists residing in Snowmass Village, where Anderson Ranch Arts Center is located, I realized that most of them were not locals. They had either participated in workshops and residency programs hosted by the center, or had fallen in love with the surrounding environment. This was unbelievable to me at the time: the power of one art center could turn a small town into art lovers and supporters. The overwhelming amount of residency applications that the center receives from all over the world shows that it is not only appreciated by locals, but by foreign artists as well. Additionally, local media would cover insights on the center’s summer workshops and winter residencies. Both the public and the media see the center as a positive platform for the town of Snowmass, CO. This open and interactive relationship between the organization and the community was not only eye opening, but it also pushed me forward as an artist.