text by Ava Pao-shia Hsueh
Visual symbols contain continuous fluctuations. Embedded within them lay not only implied meanings, but also contemplations about life. The intent of this exhibition’s work is to express flowing factors of thought through the use of abstract symbols, while bringing forth the continuity of the fluctuating flow process. Continuity is both a characteristic of time and a constantly shifting focus. Variances are a catalyst, triggering extraordinary acceptances that collide with the trajectory of thought. The process of creating art is both a type of continuous fluctuation and a continuing dialectical process.
However, when creating art, the purpose of the dialectical process is not to demonstrate a relationship between right or wrong. Rather, it is an inquiry to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary abstract art’s evolution. In other words, how to deal with abstracts art's known explicit qualities as well as its less-understood intrinsic qualities, while considering alternate expressions and investigative directions becomes the primary focus of my work. Abstract art has existed for more than one hundred years, and its well-documented history can be seen as its fundamentally explicit identity. Yet, how can expressive forms and content be utilized to loosen the definitions and constraints that abstract art places on our cognitive processes? And, by using abstract symbols, how can explicit and implicit themes be interchanged to create fluctuations? These are the topics explored within my work. In this exhibition, I hand-draws the cold/geometric abstract symbol of a "circle," and combines it with vibrant, fluctuating, and hot/biomorphic abstract symbols to form my work’s visual theme. By definition, an image of a painting belongs to the realm of two dimensions. Yet, by adding nine different-sized “circles,” which introduce a chronological sense of time, the viewers experience four dimensions instead of two. This type of trans-dimensional experience is closely linked to the viewer’s position and distance. The theme of time and space explored in this exhibition is not limited to the illusions created by the images. With every movement of the viewer, the connection between reality and void, as well as between fluctuation and motionlessness are brought forth. By reducing color brightness and, yet, increasing the color saturation increments, I strengthen the sense of compressed space. These expressive forms and content form the main topic of Hsueh’s 2010 works.
Furthermore, one might ask, what is the purpose of presenting movement and stillness through abstract visual symbols? What type of relationship could be used to make the connection? For artists, motion is a quintessential factor in presenting intangible concepts manifested through the experience of creating a work of art. The state of motionless precedes the state of motion on the same spectrum; it is the nascent state of time that leads to commotion. Thus, it is a factor of fluctuation. Through the juxtaposition and expansion of both, the goal is to create an interface where energies converge and covert and where fluctuation occurs at the outer limits. Using automaticity as a method of painting, one can elicit their inner spontaneous nature; this is an experience where the artist is in a realm of the unknown and unrestricted. However, when the fluctuation of energy comes to a rest, the consciousness spins; at this time, the connections of imagination or conscious recognition are inevitably manifested during the creative process. In the midst of this work’s creative process, it is the existing intersection between motion and stillness that appears in unnecessary separation that allows for this to happen. In the discovery of this creative process, conclusions must be unraveled to find continuous fluctuations.
Bertrand Russell once said, history lets people recognize that there are no conclusions to human affairs. Art history has recorded the unique thought and expression behind the works of artists. It has also opened a channel for different generations to understand the different approaches, never conclusions, to art throughout history. For an artist like myself, who cares deeply about abstract art and its evolution, the ability to unravel a conclusion and maneuver within the resulting fluctuation is the driving force behind my creations. It is also the energy that promotes self-reflection and the expansion of the cognitive system, providing an important opportunity for dialogue with the viewer.
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