Besides expressing feelings, emotions and concepts, an artist exhibits works to share the experience and pleasure of her/his art creation. If audiences can take time to appreciate and explore further, the works will deliver greater pleasure to them in return. This is my special experience whenever I watch Loh Li-Chen’s art work.
I have visited several solo shows by Loh Li-Chen. They all seemed to send out a message of “let’s get back the happiness of innocent age.” The one titled “Fun Land” exhibited a few years ago is an example. In it, she created a fascinating space, genuinely welcoming, inviting people into the space. I was immediately absorbed into it as I lifted up the drapes at the entrance.
It is a dark place without any directions or boundaries. People in it are like floating in the enormous outer space. Stars overhead are so far away. There is a big snow white fuzzy cushion lightened up in the darkness like a lighthouse on a small island against the endless sea. Surrounded with transparent nylon webs, the place takes the shape of a yurt. Staying inside is cozy, alone, but safe and connected to the outside world. I speculate the artist might be suggesting that “humans are part of the Universe and united with the Universe.” Or, she might just have remembered the childhood experience of hiding herself in a small corner but still longing for the hugs from parents.
Now she has new works. I happily visited her exhibition and regained the experience of sharing her creativity. The theme of all five works is “Bravery and Variation.” Her bravery is a glitter, a luster of purity. It is like a precious stone cut and polished to the most, the fineness and the light emitting out are both beautiful and fascinating.
I was firstly attracted by the work “Encapsulation” due to the whirling shadow and light from the ceiling. On the ground stays a round base, remaining still like an enlarged jewel box, which symbolized the Buddhist status of “Rest in reason, move in Passion.”[1] Inside the glass jars on that base, she encapsulated her own childhood sweet memory, along with the merriment of her two young daughters. The whole work embodies an essence of innocence, brightness and pleasantness. The changing light and shadow represents the colorful, waving and dreamy life scenes.
The second work is a set of “Grandiose Houses.” Li-Chen uses “images of houses etched on acrylic plates, decorated with gorgeous crown and big crystal balls. They meant to be resemblance of a grand mansion but a cold home.” The big house with no warmness looks great but feels empty, because it lacks of love. Without love, a house is not a home anymore.
Against the dread of “Grandiose Houses”, “the Variation of Homes” shows the chasing games among children and their laughter. Here, “home” appears lively and vibrantly. The images of the children fade in and out, resembling the memory’s fragments coming near or far. I enjoyed this work most for her skillful and moving touch.
The fifth work in the exhibition is “Piece Together.” But I like to see it with the fourth work as a whole. My reason is, in this particular work, the artist invites audience to patch up and construct their ideal home. Although it’s just a gesture, the movements implicate a deeper thought of “whatever kind of home you want, build it with your own hands.” In other words, if we work hard for our ideal, it’s possible to build a home as perfect as the image in the fourth work “Bravery and Variation.”
Loh Li-Chen keeps a pure heart. That’s the most precious asset for an artist. I can always feel it from her works. Wish to see more of her art works and come closer to her genuine heart through all these works.
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[1] “Rest in reason, move in Passion” is a Buddhist phrase, to mean that achieving the highest status of Buddhist practice. Here it is applied to describe the round base as the root of the life tree in artist’s heart, steady and fastened; while the shadow and light are dreamy and changing all the time. One still and one moving, both play interesting roles. |
