Chen Chi-Hsiang - "As It Is" Solo Exhibition

Text / Chen Chi-Hsiang

Living as it is, manifesting as it appears. Life is as it is; manifestation is as it appears. Observe, listen, feel. Contemplate experience and realization. Completely as it is and as it appears.

Exhibition Venue: Taipei Bema Gallery | Dates: March 9–30 | Address: No. 26, Alley 304, Section 1, Jianguo South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City.

Chen Chi-Hsiang holds that life itself is the profound mystery of the universe. He has always explored unknown realms of existence with a pioneering spirit under the stream of consciousness. Two years after his solo exhibition "Realm – Homeland" at Bema Gallery, he presents new works titled "As It Is." Clearly, each solo exhibition theme signifies self-contemplation in the present moment, reflecting existential situations and states of life. Each stage possesses its own realization and exploration of inner landscapes: from the dreamlike illusion of "Mirror Flowers, Water Moon," through "Spring Dream / Non-Dream" (where dreams come true if believed), to exploring the conditions of life’s field in "Realm · Homeland," and now to this introspective look at the local scenery of suchness—"As It Is." Art is self-verification and self-transcendence. In facing the unknown life, creation becomes re-creation, experience becomes re-experience, fulfilling meaning and perceived value. "As It Is" means truly facing the present scene, perceiving the context here and now. All existence remains unspoken. As it is, it is not speculation; as it appears, no imagination is needed. Any arising thought deviates from what is and how it appears. Originally and completely, "As It Is" and "As It Appears" reflect the suchness of mind and essence. The present is here and now. Here is immediate quantity, immediate realm, and immediate domain. This is all that exists. Leaving the present leads to distortion and "there." Realms transform; every present is the reality of original form as it is. Respect the scene. Existence in its highest state is as it is.

The renowned German philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said: "Our minds are limited, yet even in limited situations, we are surrounded by infinite possibilities, and the purpose of life is to do our best to understand as much infinity as possible."

For over ten years, artistic exploration has sought to capture the present state and context of existence within the illusory, bewildering, and colorful material world, investigating what true appearance really is. The realm of life mirrors the "Mirror Flowers, Water Moon / Floating Life Like a Dream." Introspecting the local scenery of existential being allows us to glimpse the truth of things and the mysteries of existence. Thus, repeatedly questioning the "as it is" of existence: is it the seen truth or the felt truth? What can be seen can be imagined; what can be imagined can be unseen. Form arises from the mind; objects are created by the heart. Eyes cannot exhaust the truth (true existence); truth is more than what eyes can see, not less than what imagination suggests. As stated in The Little Prince: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

Inheriting the past and opening the future, recent works face oneself and the present realistically. They expand mental concepts, continuing to use insignificant natural objects nearby. Through subtle combinations of light/shadow and mirror reflections, they construct and present deep realizations and perceptions, revealing deeper layers of consciousness. In sensitive micro-observations, they explore inner landscapes and peek into the vast world of phenomena. Recent works continue within seemingly mirrored symmetry but are more subtly complex than before, featuring multi-layered organizational structures. They overlap two different imagery types (light/shadow and mirrors), add symbolic signs, or use circles to condense space-time in the composition, appearing color fields and objects. In the new atmosphere of 2013, objects continue to expand the horizons of consciousness and creation.

In the "As It Is" solo exhibition, a set of clocks titled "One Square Inch" (Note 1) and a neon light work titled "A Moment" (Note 2) appear. One visible, one hidden, both present time differences and distances under space-time. They converge in the mind's present, melting everything into "One." Between appearance and essence, phenomenon and imagery, perception and intuition, time and space, matter and spirit, they highlight the metaphysical dimension of art, awakening awareness of "As It Is."

The "As It Is" exhibition constructs a spiritual field using object and picture-space installation techniques. In front of the gallery, "One Square Inch" installs two side-by-side symmetrical round clocks. The left shows three o'clock; the right shows nine o'clock. The hands of nine and three form a square inch, pointing out the space-time dimensions of my home in Paris and my homeland in Taiwan (a six-hour time difference between Taipei and Paris during winter solstice), symbolizing spatial distance and time difference. But essentially, here and now, the present scene of "As It Is" is one entity, yet contains the time difference, latitude, location, and space of the real world. Clearly, within "One Square Inch" (the heart), here, there, here, converges in the mind's present as "here." "Here" is not "there." "Here-now" includes the past and future. Time in the mind is timeless. Entering selflessness and egolessness, becoming one whole, "As It Is," without duality, the entire moment is complete.

The main hall features a black and red painting installation titled "Original Image, True Appearance" as the main movement. Under unique creation, two-dimensional flat paintings become three-dimensional spatial installations. Under the symmetry of black/red and red/black, cloth extends from the wall to the floor. On the black and red surfaces, white rice and black rice—symbolic materials—are displayed. Under stark contrast, they reflect spiritual volume and extraordinary field dimensions, awakening local consciousness and context.

The tension of the entire exhibition explodes from the strong black-red core in the front hall. Energy flows like electric current through wall works, rising and falling, arranged with rhythm and beat according to convex and concave diagonal walls, strengthening the dimensionality of the works. Finally, on the back wall of the rear hall, the climax rises with "A Moment," a set of vibrant indigo and pink jumping neon lights. Mirrors placed on the table create a poetic scene of water-light illusions. The field space magically diffuses into indigo and pink halos, clarifying consciousness as it is. Under the forms of large and small paintings and the poetic color rhythm (red, black, green, indigo, pink), the overall space emits an indoor trio melody. Paintings rise to climaxes with the beat, singing and dancing, entering deep consciousness, playing out a spiritual field with religious sentiment.

"As It Is" is a phrase I often use to describe the natural state of the present. Regardless of situation, state, or space-time, if it is so at the present moment, then it is so. "So" is everything entirely, without comparison, speculation, or imagination. At every present, existing as suchness, originally and completely. "As It Is" means that under diverse forms and faces of life's existence, all things return to One. Suchness is unified existence. Although physical phenomena, chemical changes, mathematical scales, philosophical concepts, literary statements, geographical space-time, and historical fields display their appearances, "One is All," as it truly is and as it appears. Time between past, present, and future is simultaneous yet timeless. Regardless of spatial field and context, here and now, the primal nature is undifferentiated. "Here" is not "there"; it is the complete "As It Is Here."

Note 1: One Square Inch – Symbolizes "Heart/Mind." Note 2: A Moment – An instant. In ancient times, twelve shi constituted one yun (cycle), and thirty yun constituted one hui (era).

Chen Chi-Hsiang at Nandao - Chiayi January 24, 2013