Diary

作品賞析

The artist Huang Yi-Sheng uses this work, Diary, to describe his feelings about the “northward drift” (i.e., to Taipei) phenomenon in Taiwan’s society today. In the background of this painting is a mottled brick red space, a piece of torn and burnt blank diary paper, and a pair of perching sparrows. In the tear at the center of the paper, one can vaguely see an image of a large sparrow doll; it pierces the paper but reveals only half of its face. The edge of the torn page, an outline of Taiwan’s southwest coast, expresses Huang’s longing for his hometown. The background color and diary page are metaphors for the people who have left their hometowns and work hard for a better but unknown future. The sparrows are also incarnations of these wanderers: even if they stop to perch in the south, they are still looking toward the unknown north. The sparrow doll hidden under the paper is a metaphor for the hidden social worries caused by the “northward drift” phenomenon.