A Journey of the Soul is Fu-chi Shih’s first solo exhibition at MOCA Studio. The exhibition integrates traditional ceramic techniques, aesthetics of modern art and issues of contemporary artistic creation. The Chinese word, “xian,” means “a prescribed area” or “a limited realm.” This exhibition refers to all kinds of confinement related to time and space in human life; it represents that, within an invisible framework, when facing stress, people would make different choices and come up with various coping mechanisms, which create dissimilar landscapes in vision and in the frame of mind. Through the making of art, Shih has transformed into artworks his feelings stimulated by the restrictions in life and those of the environment, rendering these works a form of personal notes, interpretations and reexamination of his life.
Shih’s creative motivation originates from the experiences and changes in his family life. Therefore, in this exhibition, he has displayed Reflection Series: the concept of “home” as well as the recognition and the sense of security symbolized by the “family members” in the first gallery. Entering the room, one will see first a ceramic wall installation, entitled Tales of Life II, which integrates the images of feeding bottles and children’s colorful brushes, demonstrating the artist’s happiness of being a first-time father with a lively, joyous tone. The following principal works: one is a wall installation, Self-viewing, which consists of 25 square pottery sculptures, individually showing a face with crushed features—a piece that explores the environment’s domination of the inner realm. The other work is a set that includes Surface I and Surface III, which are three-dimensional pottery head sculptures. Similar to writing diary entries or jotting down some thoughts in life, Reflection Series marks the artist’s inner fluctuations resulting from the changes in the exterior environment or lifestyle.
Room of Oppression Series in the second gallery is primarily comprised of two wall installations and one large spatial installation. These three works all employ the unique forms and symbols of “slugs” and “snail shells.” In the installation, Meals, ceramic slugs in various sizes attach to celadon porcelain plates in small groups, turning themselves into “meals on the plates” while implying the suffering and struggle of people that cannot afford to buy houses. Manipulation I is a work that combines all kinds of human hands in black and vivid colors, staging a large-scale pantomime about disadvantaged individuals manipulated by real estate speculators. The largest spatial installation, Searching, makes use of hundreds of small white slugs clustering on a gigantic black, skyscraper-like square column. The scene of contrast and the theatrical intensity seem to epitomize all the mass movements in recent years. This series embodies the artist’s emotional fluctuations and anxieties coming from the need of searching for a house and settling down after getting married and having a baby as a full-grown adult in the society. As a matter of fact, the cynical view on this world embedded in these works has transformed and expanded from the expression of personal feelings to a kind of social critique.
A Journey of the Soul—Solo Exhibition by Fu-chi Shih embodies the artist’s creative concept as well as expressive method to use objects as metaphors. While voicing and releasing his personal feelings, it also provides an outlet for the agitation and stirring emotion of the public.