Artists
Photo Credit: NIU Chun-Chiang
CHENG Hsiu-Ju
CHENG Hsiu-Ju
| Location | USA / New York, NY |
|---|---|
| Residency | International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) |
| Year of the Grant | 2005 |
| Work | My… Looking for Room with Orange Light |
Artist Statement:
The notion of ‘everyday’ and the sense of ‘home’ have been the core topics of exploration in my art practice. I attempt to deconstruct the pre-existing notion of ‘familiarity’ and find new meanings in it through the investigation of the everyday and through the construction of symbols. If such familiarity exists, then the act of reconstruction becomes the vehicle for engendering new experiences, whereas the sense of familiarity becomes the indispensable medium in which the act of engenderment could happen.
My art overlaps the realms of the public with the private, and also incorporates private settings in public exhibition spaces to emphasize the positioning of the ‘self.’ By utilizing the familiarity, everyday objects, or by symbolizing furniture imageries, I attempt to look for the Gestalt relationship between objects, space, and body. I could thereby explore the topic of ‘I emerge, therefore I exist.’ The ‘emergence’ of one’s body, or the awakening of one’s bodily experience, is the most direct evidence to the existence of one’s consciousness. The ‘self’ becomes the generic name for the observer, as the role of the observer switches back and forth between the author and the audience.
ISCP is located in Midtown Manhattan, an area where art, design, fashion, architecture, languages, and cultures converge. During my residency, all sorts of information flooded before my eyes. I was able to absorb and filter all this information, and thus locate my own art practice. Activities conducive to artistic exchange as well as meetings with curators organized by ISCP were excellent learning experiences for me. They turned an artist’s studio from a private space for art making into an active, public site for exchanging ideas.