Figurative Illusion

Jhong Jiang-Ze has always been interested in body, space and the state of mind, and the human figure is the major subject matter of the exhibition. Whether the depicted figures were derived from existing images or out of the artist’s imagination, they all have an air of mystery around them, seem to contain many messages and unknown stories. The forms and space are transformed, dispersed, deconstructed, and reconstructed by the artist, unfolding before our eyes unlimited ways of imagination. Through expressive brushwork and bold coloring, the figures in Jhong’s works become ambiguous, escaping from the definable time and space.

In Jhong’s recent painting Girl Lifting Skirt, the head of the blond girl is left out of the canvas. All can be seen is her gesture of lifting her skirt in a wide field background. The branches beside her twist forwards through the right arm, echoing her peculiar state of mind. As for the 2013 installation, Memory is a Theatre of the Absurd, used ready-made objects such as a walking stick, a Noh mask, and an old sled are endowed with ambiguous multiple meanings, revealing the memory as a mixture of truths and imaginations. Confronting memory is like a self excavation, which is inevitably interfered with personal subjectivity. The objective accuracy might thus be lost, but the real experience will remain.

Through Jhong’s painting and installation works, the exhibition, “Figurative Illusion” will open up a dialogue concerning visual illusion, remodeling of meanings, and space transformation, exploring the unlimited possibilities of imagery interpretation.