Artwork Appreciation
The First Day continues the artist Li Cheng-Hsun’s long-standing use of lines forming gridlike patterns that record the trajectory of his life. He has often transformed satellite photos into maps to this. Here, several irregularly shaped color blocks represent the artist’s studio, home, and places where he often walks. For example, the color block in the lower right corner is the coffee shop where he used to work. The fine lines through the painting are his daily walking routes. He thinks of and records his life with points, lines, and planes. In this work, contrary to the highly saturated colors he often used in the past, the artist for the first time uses low-saturation colors on a grey background to convey his feelings. In a gray, concrete city, the places that can make him happy are like these bright color blocks. Mapping always displays historical perspectives. Li Cheng-Hsun reinterprets his own history by transforming satellite maps.