Artwork Appreciation
Safe Landing is one of the works in the artist Tsui Yung-Yen’s “Shoal” series. The overall shape consists of a white figure holding a plastic bag. The artist’s concept is conveyed through the relationship between the figure and accessories. Tsui Yung-Yen considers plastic bags an interesting subject. The original intention behind their invention was to reduce the environmental impact of paper bags, but they ended up causing even more damage to the environment. Here she used forging, welding, and polishing methods to create a thin plastic bag from stainless steel. The white figure holding the plastic bag in hand falls from the sky to the sea. She was also inspired by distorted reflections in water when she made the solid pedestal for the sculpture. The way the white figure’s toes press on the pedestal seems to lighten the sculpture. Tsui uses this work to ask viewers, “How should we land safely at every stage of life? And where will the plastic bags we hold take us?”