ILHAS

作品賞析

Tu Sheng-Chun, an artist who grew up on Heping Island in Keelung, has said that “island” was part of his initial understanding of the world, and that this understanding helped to nurture his artistic creativity. Ilhas is the Portuguese word for “islands,” and in this work he uses the idea of “an island within an island” to present his memories and imagination concerning the island of Taiwan. The three-dimensional hemisphere or domed circle in the center of the painting depicts two islands, but it also represents the ancient human view of the world as being flat, covered with a domed sky. Here it is seen floating in the vastness of space. Tu Sheng-Chun also sees pieces of driftwood as carrying human emotions and momentary experiences, so he depicts these as irregular blocks surrounding and floating the “island world,” as if they represent the feelings and memories of the inhabitants. With his island-centric view of the world, memories from elsewhere are internalized, so some of these driftwood pieces are converted into the two islands under the dome.