Artists
Photo Credit: NIU Chun-Chiang
LEE Kuo Wei
LEE Kuo Wei
| Location | USA / Colorado |
|---|---|
| Residency | Anderson Ranch Arts Center |
| Year of the Grant | 2008 |
| Work | Memory is an Invisible Line |
Residency Recollections:
To me, making art is part of living. After a hard day of work, going to the studio to make art is a relaxing communication with myself, an indispensable daily ritual. Generally speaking, making art and having a regular job are like two competing teams at the either side of a tug-of-war rope. They are pulling on each other’s ends with full force, attempting to win the other over. I know in the midst of this game, however, that having a job is the necessary tool for making a living, whereas making art is the ritual that cleanses my soul.
Finding a balance between my job and creating art is one of the difficulties that I currently face. After I graduated from Tainan National University of the Arts in 2006, I found a regular job, but also set up a studio of my own, marking the beginning of another stage in my art career. Even though I participated in several group shows after my graduation, I was still distracted by my full-time job, which took up the majority of my time. I had almost no opportunities to sort out my thoughts, talk with myself, and face my own art.
Fortunately, I received support from the Council for Cultural Affairs to participate in a residency program in 2008. I was able to temporarily leave the familiar places, as well as the trivial things in my life, and focus on art again. My one-month artist residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center became the ideal time for me to recharge my batteries. I learned a lot from the artistic exchanges I made with artists from other countries, and these exchanges provided materials for my future work. After I returned to Taiwan, I found that my experiences during my residency shed light onto my dilemma of striking a balance between having a job and creating art. I started to actively prepare for a solo exhibition scheduled for the following year.
Through the continuous process of creation, I was able to connect my work with my experience in the United States, thus finding a clearer direction for my artistic development. In addition, I discovered other possibilities within the ceramic medium.