The term “自休式 (pronounced ‘zhi-hsiu-shi’, meaning ‘resting style’)” is a homonym of “自修室 ( meaning ‘study room’)” in Chinese and incorporates the concept of a space for self-cultivation, reflection, a retreat, and a dialogue with oneself. Each of the Chinese characters holds dual meanings - 自 (zhi) means self or nature, 休(hsiu) may be interpreted as rest or stopping, and 式 (shi) may represent a ritual or a format. While the pandemic has forced the entire world to pause and face severe challenges, people are also serendipitously allotted enough time and space to contemplate the conditions of their own lives. From June 27 (Sat) through Aug. 8 (Sat), 2020, Soka Art will be hosting “Self Rest - Hu Jyunjie, Tao Kang, and Lo Wenhsin Trio Exhibition”, showcasing artworks created by three artists born in 1980s during the era of the pandemic. Through artworks that explore the relationship between the self and nature, this exhibition allows viewers to calm down and experience a ritualistic journey of self-discovery, centering on the artworks in search of artistic resonance and spiritual comfort.

Hu Jyunjie is a sculptor who employs romantic and poetic qualities along with a resilient sense of rationalism. Drawing from elements of Chinese classical paintings, his iron and steel sculptures express an imagined three-dimensional literati painting via an amalgam of various metals, imbued with contemporary artistic elements and personal emotional projections. In the work, Guest Muses in a Brookside Pavilion, he breaks away from the format of traditional landscape composition while reproducing the firm-standing and tall pine trees painted by Soong Dynasty’s Liu Songnian. This tree grows from the inside of the round opening of the mountainesque rock formation. The copper-plated surface glistens, exuding the high literati spirit. The contemporary abstract hollow shape provides space for imagination, inviting viewers to enter into a tranquil, spiritual, and sculpted landscape and engage in a dialogue between the self and the environment of art.

Tao Kang is a backpacker in Chinese ink expressions. He captures travel experiences with his camera, and applies a silent film palette along with deconstructed images to present multi-perspective and multi-level considerations of space. He possesses extraordinary patience on the same level as a religious practitioner, and uses a brush to create countless dots of various sizes and shades, outlining layers of trees and mountainous contours. Mineral paint is then applied to combine natural landscapes with a spatial layout that displays a contemporary avant-gardism and splendor, while simultaneously merging the traditional quiet poeticism of the spatial element of ink wash. For him, every picture has a unique color and different story based on the storyteller. It is a space in memory and an introspective monologue, all of which are precious and worthy of iterative reflections.

Lo Wenhsin excels in the use of writing tools, such as fine-liners, crayons and charcoal. For her, the process of engraving, sculpting and grinding on paper, and that thrilling sensation of scribing paper till it is on the verge of tearing, all reflect her persistence in revealing trails of strength and emotional displays. In the work, Southern Region, her delicate lines repeatedly move back and forth to draw nostalgic coconut groves in Southern Taiwan, erased and indented to create a paper relief such that viewers seem to become aware of the soft blowing wind and subtle tremors of the plants and recall their own personal experience of nature. The simplicity of white sky and earth preserves a sense of peace of serenity for the viewers.