Yi-ling Hung
Yi-ling Hung is an action and visual artist. Her creations center on "experiences in spaces," such as how an artwork can be perceived and how viewers can be navigated in an exhibition/performance space. Her inspirations stem from everyday life, as she discusses the "sense of time" in various creations. She also talks about transnational life experiences through storytelling. In recent years, the artist’s role as a mother has prompted her to contemplate the relationship between her dual identities as an artist and a mother. She aspires for her work to be understood and resonate with a broader audience, beyond the art community. Consequently, her creative concepts often draw from everyday themes rather than social issues only.
- Location Netherlands / Oisterwijk
- Year of the Grant 2022
- Residency Sunday Morning, European Ceramic Work Centre (EKWC)
- Work Storytelling Utensils
"Food" and "cuisine" are central to my creations, while "clay" is a material I have longed to explore. There are two main reasons behind my interests in clay: first, many of our daily utensils are crafted from clay into ceramics. Since my work often explores the relationship between food and life, incorporating utensils that hold food is essential. Second, I’ve come to appreciate that the process of making pottery by hand embodies a profound dialogue between the body and the material. As a performer and creator who "tells stories with the body," I find the process of making ceramic objects deeply compelling.
During my residency at the European Ceramics Work Center (EKWC), I developed a series of "storytelling utensils." Toward the end of 2021, I created a storytelling performing I = YOU, a one-on-one storytelling performance. The "storytelling utensils" that I intend to make at EKWC represents an extension of the aforementioned project, translating 9 food-related short stories into utensils, while expressing my creative ideas through ceramic art and audio experience.
The most important lesson I learned from the residency is to "work with the material." Having previously worked in architecture and lighting design, and now focusing on performing and installation art, I have been accustomed to materializing a specific "design." However, I rarely faced significant challenges from the materials. While working with ceramics, I discovered that the final result is almost never matches perfectly with the original plan. Clay is a material with its own characters. A consultant at the ceramic center remarked that making ceramics is like a duo-dance between the artist and clay. An artist must adapt to the material and sometimes make compromises to complete the work. It’s a poetic yet concrete metaphor.
Author: Yi-ling Hung
Edited: Brix