Recent Exhibition of the Work of Huang Min-Chi which she titled”…What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.” John 13:23
In her first solo exhibition in the US, at the Mobius art space in Boston, MA, Huang Min-Chi has claimed a conventional space in a way that is unique, memorable, and broadly relevant. Listed as an exhibition of woodcuts and prints, it is much more, but it is a little difficult to clearly express what it in fact is in a way that fits into an announcement. Using words at all here is difficult, even to write at length about this work. But, I will try.
I have been around the basic elements for this exhibition, the woodcarvings, for extended periods of time in my life. I have watched Min-Chi work, long and close on these precise and detailed panels. I have heard the stories from her life that were the kernels for some, and shared the experiences that went into others. Yet, there is a limit to my knowing, and much of her process remains mysterious to me. I am often surprised, even after I have come to expect certain things. To say spontaneous is a little useful, and intuitive. Viewers of her installation bring others to see it; it does not suffice to describe the work. You should see it, and see it installed, and lived in, with the artist present. This is part of her presentation; herself, her carving live in the space, her cooking when she is hungry, and even drying clothes. It is not a conceptual art conceit, but a simple use of opportunity and natural requirement. Being at her installation is a little like being at home with her. Even there, I tried to impose a kind of foreign order on her, I tried to hang her pieces on a wall, all close together, like panels in a cathedral window. But, in her installation, it is more the way she lived with her pieces, before “hanging.” They are turned to be best lit, but in locations to accommodate the space and the work, and the present condition, for instance. The pieces are even decorated, like they were furniture of something other than art themselves. The carvings are angled, to face the light, to turn away from it, and/or to enhance the three dimensional quality and casting of shadows in the peaks and valleys of the surface carving. One wall of her installation is thus precisely lit and tinkered with for best angle, using exhibition pins and clothespins to make small shelves that angle the panels from the wall. Sizes vary, as does space between the panels. I think salon style brings a close image to mind, but, they also form a cluster as an image sequence, short of narrative. Scenes from her personal life, and imagination, and how she sees herself in the world and nature are presented to us (often nude self portraits – not entire a reference to the nude in art as an expectation – but, serving a point of reference to her personal life, and how she must see herself there – she is a professional nude model, so, many hours of her life have been spent nude – thus, it is reasonable for her to depict herself nude, which is one of her normal states -. She also reminds me, that animals don't wear clothes.)
There is the nature of the world, of woods mountains and animals, and there is her nature, her character. A strong Christian faith is often present. Raised in Buddhist tradition in Taiwan, she converted some years ago, needing spiritual strength to combat an abuse of spirits in her sensitive nature. She has been a committed Christian ever since, and tried earnestly to live a life of helpfulness to others, and live a moral life. Combined with her transformations into various animals, as she feels, she takes on their natures variously in her life roles, there is a universal appeal to understand multilayered display of the beauty in this world. The installation is eccentric. There is a piece of twine that goes from most panels to a leg of a stool, which holds the carving she is doing live in the exhibition. On each twine length, with one exception, is a small piece of torn brown paper, like wrapping paper. On each piece of paper is a short poem in English, pertaining to the story or image depicted on the panel, onto which the twine is tied. It forms a slightly random matrix through half of the gallery space, and makes it difficult to approach some of the panels closely. Some may be viewed, or touched, from the sides. Some are inaccessible. Should we be denied a few things in life we would have? Or, is it like a long separation from ones love …
I compose this articles in what I call the order of urgency. There are just too many elements to put in a sequence, to impose order. The order is how your eye falls, what your mood is to receive one thing first and not another, and where you enter, and stand. As Min-Chi is always present in the space, audience engagement becomes part of the showing as well. A woman comes in and talks about her cats, because Min-Chi has a hanging drawing of a cat. She returns later with pictures on a 3D electronic device. She takes a photo of Min-Chi’s cat drawing, and has Min-Chi sign the image with electronic stylus. Someone has started a small company, and wants Min-Chi to create designs for T-shirts. Someone comes in, see her works are stories, and proceeds to tell a story from his life in the street. There are leaves and mushrooms attached to strings, shells and sticks Min-Chi has found on her walk to the gallery, and even a squirrel’s tail. All these things find there place here. It I think reflects the composition of this installation. Worms come out of acorns she put in the space – they had lived there almost three weeks, she said, from when she first collected them. If worms can be aware of things, they will find, the first thing they see, will be her exhibition, when they came out of the acorns, which they did, on the fifth day of her show. So, the worms are born, their awareness of the world, into the exhibition. I dictate this as she sits near me in her show. I had to include it here, even though it makes the flow of what I wanted to write out of order. Again, I apply the order of urgency. And, I know, I should retain the dictation where it landed, because it is in keeping with the appearances of aspects in this show. Tense must take a rest from consistency. I will try again.
The story of my meeting with Min-Chi and some descriptions of the panels have already been written, so I will describe only some, and reinforce a little of what I have said elsewhere. …one acorn fell on the ground, it was moving – Min-Chi looked down at it And picked it up, and a worm was coming out of the hole -. And, there are dried mushrooms in her exhibition … more dictation. Squirrel tail, shell, branch, mushrooms, acorns, worms, (put outside) … cooking in the toilet …. hanging laundry in the toilet … play with dog… Min-Chi is living in the space, for seven hours a day; even I am with her. Behind where she is carving is a wall facing the panels. On that wall is hung a length of twine like clothesline. Her drawings and prints are hanging on it with clothesline clips. When hanging the show, she had me take that lights for that wall down, one at a time. So now, the wall is unlit, like at home. This is how she “shows” her art at home, with the same treatment as anything else that is hers or ours. There are leaves and feathers on the twine with the paper. Sometimes at home, she would hang dried flowers too. And there are two feathers she found in the show. I forgot about those. Ah, I just found another feather. And, Min-Chi is carving an image with a sun and moon in it. The moon is scalloped out in such a way that when you turn the panel, the shadow from the edge of the full moon will move down over the body of it, from full to thinnest crescent. This show is filled with such things to be discovered. It is for me a part of Min-Chi’s mystery. She never entirely reveals all. I think it is a platonic maxim, to know more than you show. In keeping with that, she has never said it, but I think she knows this bit of wisdom. I don’t know. I am still learning life with her. Here is her artist statement for this exhibition.
My work is drawn from art traditions as well as relying on my own innovations. Personal experience and autobiography are central, and the point at which all of my art considerations meet. I contemplate equally all aspects of my presentation; installation and the process of making, in any media, are worthy of showing in the work. Thus, i carve at my showing, I present work as I would in a "gallery" beside work as I present it in my home, unlit, hanging from clothesline. My installation is from how I treat objects in my life, and I ultimately treat the gallery as my home, being present for all hours of my showing, and cooking when I am hungry. While art and life may have a separate existence at times, they converge in a person, my ultimate object of display... Huang Min-Chi, Sept. 2011 Mobius
This is a good summary of the show. I think, it is also a good start to an artist’s biography of a life. I am hoping, there will be more public windows on Min-Chi’s life. Where this article lacks description, it is because it is pointless. Just find the work, and see it. It is of the kind best directly experienced.
Lewis Gesner, Oct. 4, 2011, Cambridge, MA USA
Comments
Thank you. Binding the
Thank you. Binding the pieces back to /from Min-Chi w/
twine was so natural ...wish this format could be reused on a
larger scale....just sayin'.
