2024 Summer show
Thank you for selecting my porcelain sculpture : I am not white for the Royal Society Of Sculptors summer exhibition
Curator :Dr. David McAlmont.
The theme for the show is Reality Check.
“Alternative facts are not facts: they’re falsehoods.”
Dora House (Address: Dora House, 108 Old Brompton Rd, London SW7 3RA)
22 July- 21 September 2024.
The private view :Saturday 20 July 2024.
I am not white. Porcelain. Mould-making. Rope.36 x 32 x 20 cm.Sculpture. 2020
www.wenhsichenceramics.com/2020.html
My porcelain sculpture , "I Am Not White," is my complex experience of negotiating multiple cultural identities. It reflects my ceramic practice which is to investigate the in-betweenness ,between Taiwan and Britain, between the East and the West and how this cultural 'dislocation' or 'gap' has shaped/ reconstructed my understanding of identity. I quite often ask myself 'what is my 'real' cultural identity?' It is challenging of living in between two cultures. My work becomes a medium to express the personal journey of self-discovery, resilience, and the questioning of cultural perceptions.
When I decided to leave my homeland Taiwan to Britain on the 4th of July in 2009 (American Independence Day) to pursue my dream to be an artist, I decided to study my second MA and PhD to fulfil my dream. When I arrived in England, my English was not good. I felt like I was deaf, I could not fully understand the British accent. During my studies, some students could not pronounce my name: Wen-Hsi, instead they called me 'Yellow', this was my first time I realised I was different with them due to my skin colour. I started to think about how other people looked at me in different cultural perspectives and how I am different from others.
The title itself addresses the discomfort and awareness of being perceived differently due to cultural differences. It challenges viewers to consider their assumptions about identity and whiteness, making them confront the uncomfortable realities of post-colonialism, not as a distant theory, but as my lived experience. Through my ceramic practice, I use my voice to communicate these embarrassing concepts, raising awareness of the complexities of cross-cultural identity in a 'real 'world and 'artistic' world.
My work, lies at the intersection between life and death, control and chaos, black and white, the world and the artistic realm, making and writing, speaking and non-speaking, on the edge of the 'in-betweenness''s gap. I Incorporated twelve porcelain legs into my artwork as a way to construct and symbolise the movement and dynamics of in-betweenness. The legs can be seen as a metaphor for my personal journey, the steps taken between cultures, identities ,and the ongoing process of negotiating these spaces.
Curator :Dr. David McAlmont.
The theme for the show is Reality Check.
“Alternative facts are not facts: they’re falsehoods.”
Dora House (Address: Dora House, 108 Old Brompton Rd, London SW7 3RA)
22 July- 21 September 2024.
The private view :Saturday 20 July 2024.
I am not white. Porcelain. Mould-making. Rope.36 x 32 x 20 cm.Sculpture. 2020
www.wenhsichenceramics.com/2020.html
My porcelain sculpture , "I Am Not White," is my complex experience of negotiating multiple cultural identities. It reflects my ceramic practice which is to investigate the in-betweenness ,between Taiwan and Britain, between the East and the West and how this cultural 'dislocation' or 'gap' has shaped/ reconstructed my understanding of identity. I quite often ask myself 'what is my 'real' cultural identity?' It is challenging of living in between two cultures. My work becomes a medium to express the personal journey of self-discovery, resilience, and the questioning of cultural perceptions.
When I decided to leave my homeland Taiwan to Britain on the 4th of July in 2009 (American Independence Day) to pursue my dream to be an artist, I decided to study my second MA and PhD to fulfil my dream. When I arrived in England, my English was not good. I felt like I was deaf, I could not fully understand the British accent. During my studies, some students could not pronounce my name: Wen-Hsi, instead they called me 'Yellow', this was my first time I realised I was different with them due to my skin colour. I started to think about how other people looked at me in different cultural perspectives and how I am different from others.
The title itself addresses the discomfort and awareness of being perceived differently due to cultural differences. It challenges viewers to consider their assumptions about identity and whiteness, making them confront the uncomfortable realities of post-colonialism, not as a distant theory, but as my lived experience. Through my ceramic practice, I use my voice to communicate these embarrassing concepts, raising awareness of the complexities of cross-cultural identity in a 'real 'world and 'artistic' world.
My work, lies at the intersection between life and death, control and chaos, black and white, the world and the artistic realm, making and writing, speaking and non-speaking, on the edge of the 'in-betweenness''s gap. I Incorporated twelve porcelain legs into my artwork as a way to construct and symbolise the movement and dynamics of in-betweenness. The legs can be seen as a metaphor for my personal journey, the steps taken between cultures, identities ,and the ongoing process of negotiating these spaces.
