text by Lin Ping
On first viewing this series of works by Huang Wei-Min I was reminded of the classic “The Little Prince” which begins when a “snake swallows an elephant.” That response took me immediately to a place of childhood imagination, a simple fear of all things unknown in the world, even though as adult now I always try to name and describe the emotions I experience in the simplest language possible. The work of Huang Wei-Min is infused with this quality, using a soaring imagination to name things and the leisurely medium of painting to describe things. In the process, the artist successfully moves every adult who has ever been a child, with works that allude to the profound mystery of nature and speak of the torment and destruction inflicted by man on the environment.
Most of us have had a rational education and live in a civilized world with all the human guarantees that imply, via abstract or concrete means, a world more secure safe from the wild. Despite being plagued by fear and doubt from things that cannot be named or predicted, and being forced into compromises by reality, such a realistic attitude in no way makes us forget the power of dreaming. As such, rational language has limits that no measurement can accurately gauge. The more civilized our world, the stronger our desire for the out-of-the-way or isolated; the more we are in the process of building, the easier it is to encounter destruction.
As we reflect in the period following Taiwan’s rapid development, environmental consciousness has begun to take a much more important place in various educational programs. Whereas those who built the cross island highway through unbelievably difficult terrain are considered heroes, flagrant mining and deforestation in primitive forests is viewed as destructive self interest. When virgin land is filled with economic resources, when the wilderness is crisscrossed with pathways, when highways weave their way into the mountains, it is like waking a wild animal from slumber, an unknown divine force…Have people eaten away at the mountain forests or will nature devour all invaders?
In a market-oriented society where the media is everywhere and capital is king, the difficulties of political identity and ideological battles come hand in hand with natural disasters and manmade distortions. If this were the current reality of Taiwanese society, an era of confusion and multiple disasters, then people would feel anxious and seek security in life. If we could bring ourselves to say the words, if we could simply and honestly, like children, give a name to that insecurity and fear, then perhaps we would no longer be so afraid, scared of being alone, scared of being swallowed whole, scared of being weak or of disappearing altogether.
Huang Wei-Min’s works use a relatively simple visual language to highlight our deepest fears in these times. As in “The Little Prince” she invites her audience to return to the first picture book “real life stories from nature” where an anaconda swallows the food it captures whole, waiting quietly for it to digest. When the early settlers like children first encountered the violence of death as it devoured its prey, most experienced terror as their imagination was assailed with images their limited experience failed to comprehend. In such a situation language loses its efficacy and is replaced by the suppositions and metaphors of images expressing inner uncertainty and explanations that serve as consolation. This showcases the ability we all have for self salvation in helpless situations, for it is in naming things that we are able to face and overcome fear. The ability of the little prince to imagine a “snake swallowing an elephant” is interpreted only on a surface level by adults, so that when they really see “a snake swallowing an elephant” the reaction is to flee from the immense power of nature, consoling themselves and the little prince. He is urged to focus on learning geography, history, mathematics and grammar, that is, to return to the civilized world of rationality. This advanced modern world in which we live is unable to eliminate our inner fears and curiosity. Although we are a long way from primitive beliefs and the wonder of nature, Huang Wei-Min ever so slowly gives voice to such things.
Surrealism showcases dreams and the power of the irrational. Through the allusions of pictures and language or even the unrelated or irrational juxtaposition of pictures and text, the way in which the text interacts with the image or the ideas to which that gives rise creates a scenario in which viewers transcend the framework of logic. In the cracks between names and reason we find pre-modern simplicity and the existence of an alternative reality. Words with dual meanings are another way in which the imaginative power of pictures and words can be combined. The way the pieces in this series of work by Huang Wei-Min were chosen is also interesting, using nouns and verbs interchangeably and homonyms to create a series of images that mix animals, nature and man made structures, resulting in terrifying poetry. Other titles reference wild beasts, land ethics, natural balance and desires such as hunger.
If painting is considered a visual skill then perhaps there is not too much difference between that and the leisurely painted lacquer-ware of an artisan. For an artist completely dedicated to her calling, producing just 6 or 7 pieces a year would be minimalistic. These few works may not accord with the demands of the commercial market but that is exactly the result of the gradual ruminations of Huang Wei-Min, an inevitability of her creative process.
Huang graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at Tunghai University and during her time there focused on painting, with a particular interest in pictorial language and painting technique which she used to explore her curiosity about the world in which we live. On entering graduate school Huang Wei-Min produced a series of structural planet symbols which she described as not so much universal codes but rather her own inner conceptual understanding of the world. These were completed using detailed geometric shapes and an even distribution of color. In this period the artist realized her own distinctive imaginings regarding the fate of the cosmos and mankind. Indeed, Huang’s works are rarely about herself, but always focusing on the interaction of society and the environment, the relationships between different social groups and between people and the environment, indicating a certain aspiration to retell parables. However, this relationship was not represented in concrete terms but rather in abstract symbols and allusions. In 2005, four large pieces by Huang Wei-Min using the structure of corn to symbolize the situation of human settlements and their locations received the Taipei Arts Award. Through the way in which the corn is wrapped in protective leaves the artist depicted her desire to feel safe and secure. In these works she explored the expressive nature of various materials. The ability to represent each fiber optimally requires a long time and much work to refine one’s painting skills. The timely nature of an artist’s painting is in many ways like the self cultivation undertaken by ascetic monks. Huang Wei-Min imbues the pieces with her own physical and emotional essence beyond the ideas of the mind and visual logic, so much so that it is not unreasonable to observe that she lives in her own paintings.
The works of Huang Wei-Min always involve much more than “Looking”. Most of the time the way they make viewers feel is of equal importance and that comes from an accumulation of layers of painting and daubed colors. In 2008, Huang’s landscape and animals series of works such as “One Eating Floater”were full of peaceful looking landscape scenes but somehow still managed to give the viewer a sense of unease. The deep blue opaque sea and the thick air that made it difficult to breathe seemed to allude to something about to happen, hinting at the unpredictable chaos that lies just beneath the surface that could break out any moment. Through the use of introspective quiet colors the unpredictable savage nature of this natural portrait takes us on a journey into a world that is indiscernible. In line with the rich layering over time, the final layer creates a polished introspective protective varnish that locks our soaring imaginations into a world that is indescribable.
The simpler a work of art the more the focus on appearance; between the richness of such antagonistic relationships as tranquility and uproar, refinement and roughness, softness and sharpness, regular and irregular…geometric and organic, large and small dimensions, smooth and rough strokes, the artist showcases immense visual tension. All of this is ingeniously unified through the use of similar color groups and a smooth surface texture. Like looking at a landscape through a window, the viewer always remains on the other side of the glass. However, faced with a fragile piece of glass that could shatter at any moment, one may still feel close to the action.
The rumbling sound of cars passing through mountains and the howls of animals, speaks of the slow encroachment of man and the eternal pain of nature. In our role as viewers we can take a tunnel into the giant manmade cage that nature is become, brazenly conquering the unknown mountains. We can also look down from on high and gaze into the distance from where it is possible to feel the low rumble of nature and sense that an inevitable response is coming.
Through “The Little Prince,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry created a magical world for children. At the same time, he also described an undying childlike innocence in adults. This world is full of fresh, thrilling first time, unknown nightmares that mark the road to dreams that make one part of a transcendent universe. The work of Huang Wei-Min is akin to the world of the Little Prince. It may be the surprising imagination of a child but it often looks at desires, greed and entanglements in the adult world, the uncertainty and anxiety found between control and loss of control.
Many of the landscapes portrayed appear calm and placid, but convey messages of constant uproar. In the kingdom of imagination these resemble fables, in the real world of mankind they are earnest warnings.
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