Artist
A Taiwanese indigenous artist of Taroko descent, Jiewen was graduated in 2008 from the Department of Temporary Space Design, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. In 2009, she returned to Taiwan and worked in the eastern part of the island since then, exploring issues related to women, ethnicity, environment, and society. She has participated in the artist-in-residence programs in Taiwan, New Caledonia, China, and Spain. She is good at sensing the surroundings and linking local history and background to create artworks on site.
She started working with traditional Truku weaving for self-development, and her works include soft sculpture, videography, images, metalwork, public art, etc. In 2020, she started entering into the multidisciplinary field, curating her exhibition “Wrapped Mountain” in Ruixin Mine in her mountainous village, Hong-ye.
After becoming a mother in 2015, her creations have become a medium for her own experiences and records. Her expressions towards pregnancy to mother and child relation are straightforwardly shown in her works. They can be represented by “The Person Who Nourishes Life” and “Red Dinosaur.” She currently lives between Taiwan and Italy and has co-founded Mud Chair Studio with Italian director Tommaso Muzzi. Their works include exhibition curating and cultural documentary production. They have won the Public Arts of Environmental Integration Award, Creative Award, and the first prizes in Pulima Art Awards in 2014 and 2016.
Artwork
Title: Walking Series – Summer Sunbath
Artist: Lin Jiewen
Materials: Recycle Steel Bars, Round Iron, Canvas, Fabric Composite Media (modification will be based on productive necessity)
Dimensions: 250 CM High, 500 CM Deep, 400 CM Wide (+-10%)
Location: Hualien Visitor Center
The original idea for the “Walking” series is the integration of humans and nature. Since humans and nature were original as one, human selfishness has become stronger and stronger, and then the foolish human believes that they would win over nature. One pair of human feet (usually brightly colored) walks out in the natural landscape. Only one pair of feet as the rest of the human body has disappeared and dissolved into the landscape. It continues to walk, just without the most remarkable human organs such as head and brain; a pair of feet in the landscape exists in a strange yet natural way.
Sunbathing of the Walking Series is planned to be installed in a grassy area overlooking the sea in Yanliao, Hualien. The place reminds the artist of the Italian seaside, where there are always crowds lying down and sunbathing. Thus, Jiewen wanted to create this joking and laid-back scene that allows the visitor to experience sunbathing right here.
The creative technique in Summer Sunbathing is the three-dimensional weaving technique that Jiewen is familiar with. After deconstructing, the recycled materials are turned into threats and used to be woven into three-dimensional structures. The umbrella shape hanging above the feet is just like the sun shading umbrellas by the Mediterranean, allowing visitors to enter the artwork and interact with it.
