｜Artist Tsai Ken (1950-)  ｜The studio of Tsai Ken in Sanzhi

Born in Taipei in 1950, Tsai Ken graduated from the Division of Sculpture, National Taiwan Academy of Arts in 1972. He had learned human body sculpture for more than a decade. Senior sculptor Chen Hsia-Yu had rhapsodized about his works. Nevertheless, Tsai felt restricted in this subject matter. The turning point in his artistic career didn’t come until he visited the Occident in 1983.

At that time, arts education in Taiwan was deeply influenced by Western art trends. During his enrolment at the academy, Tsai studied Western catalogues in bulk and conducted in-depth analysis and research. On his travel in 1983, Tsai visited major occidental museums, and he was aware of the fact that it’s impossible to surpass the West in terms of Western culture.³ Therefore, he took a two-year hiatus from artistic creation for reorientation.

Tsai joined the faculty of National Taiwan Academy of Arts in 1985 to teach the woodwork workshop. He glued discarded wood together and carved it. This was the first material he discovered after clay modeling. Starting from plywood, Tsai added stones, wires, dead twigs, discarded furniture, and other mixed media successively. In the collecting process, he preserved the original appearance of some of the materials and put the “readymade” in his works. In his 1997 solo exhibition “Beyond the Horizon; Beyond the Form,” Tsai declared that “my work is no longer based on the result of the shape, but on the interrelationship between the materials,” which served as his most essential creative vocabulary thenceforth.

 ｜Tsai Ken, Flying III (partial), 1997, 56x34x206cm, Mixed media

Treating his life experience as the point of departure, Tsai’s early solo exhibition focused on family ethics, which had many to do with the fact that Tsai was nearly 40 and took on triple roles of a son, a husband, and a father at that time. Later, Tsai’s family moved to Sanzhi, where he found the mutual testimony between nature and life amidst the mountain forest and the sea.⁵

Reaching his middle age, Tsai resumed reading old classics written by Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi, whereby he had an epiphany about his life. Distinct from Western art concepts, “the great form without shape” by Laozi and “setting the mind at flight by going along with things as they are” by Zhuangzi represent an oriental thought that returns to one’s root self.

 ｜Tsai Ken, Garden on the Carpet (partial), 2019, 290x80x60cm, Mixed media

Tsai staged his first solo exhibition when he approached 40. Then he continued to present his works on a biennial or triennial basis, thereby expressing his perception as well as the harmony and beauty of life. In the midst of many art waves, Tsai still retains his own creative vocabulary. Art critic Liao Ren-I commented:

1 Tsai Ken, “Beyond the Forms, Between the Materials: Wandering in the Creative Play of Forms and Materials,” Wandering in the Creative Play of Forms and Materials: Tsai Ken Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Tsai Ken, 2015).

2 Tsai Ken, “Self-narrative,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

3 “By chance, Tsai had the opportunity to travel abroad and see the original sculptures he had always admired in art books. He was deeply moved by this experience, and gradually the idea of abandoning realistic portraiture with traditional techniques came into his mind. He discovered that the Western culture he encountered during his travels possessed a rich and powerful body language, unlike the cautious and reserved culture he had grown up with.” Tsai Chih Fen, "Tracing the Traces of Life's Turning Points: Studying Tsai's Linear Sculptures," Artist (Vol. 271, 1997).

4 Tsai Ken, “Self-narrative,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

5 Tsai Ken, “Self-narrative,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

6 Tsai Ken, “After the Exhibition of Beyond the Horizon; Beyond the Form,” Beyond the Horizon; Beyond the Form 1987-1997 (Taipei: Tsai Ken, 1998).

7 Tsai Ken, “Wandering in the Creative Play of Forms and Materials,” Wandering in the Creative Play of Forms and Materials: Tsai Ken Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Tsai Ken, 2015).

8 Liao Ren-I, “The Philosophy Behind Tsai Ken’s Sculptures – From Using Object to Express Emotions to Using Object to Create an Atmosphere,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

─Starting from the Materials─

Since teaching at National Taiwan Academy of Arts after 1985, Tsai has turned from clay to plywood as the medium for his sculptures. He added mixed media into his works after his second solo exhibition. He preserved the original appearance of partial materials while including “readymade” in his works. His observation on life and nature, along with Laozi’s idea of “order by inaction,” found vivid expression in his use of readymade.

 ｜Tsai Ken, Home in the Mountain (partial), 2012, 94x76x180cm, Mixed media

In addition to originating from Taoism, Tsai’s material-based works can be traced back to Raymond Duchamp’s (1876-1918) concept of “readymade” in the history of Western sculpture and to Assemblage that assembles different media (esp. discarded “readymade”) into 3D works in the 1950s. Yang Zhao commented on Tsai’s creative context of using “readymade” in Tsai’s 1997 solo exhibition “Beyond the Horizon; Beyond the Form”:

Tsai derives his creative materials mostly from his quotidian existence. Both his home and his studio are located in Sanzhi, a place surrounded by the mountains and the sea. Res naturales are thick on the ground there, such as dead twigs, feathers, cicada shells, and stones. There is human detritus as well, such as wires, printed fabrics, bird cages, and discarded furniture. Tsai collects these materials and sorts them carefully. He examines these materials in his studio from time to time. The idea of assembling the materials will come to him as soon as certain qualities of the materials attract his attention.¹¹

Tsai believes that “there is neither lowliness nor nobleness in materials, just as all men are created equal.” As an artist, his priority is to discover the distinctive features of different materials and to experiment with their positions in his works, insofar as to let the materials speak for themselves and thereby express his feelings about life.

─Transcending the Formal Confines─

In his 1997 solo exhibition “Beyond the Horizon; Beyond the Form,” Tsai stated: “I used to create sculptures with preconceived ideas and even make sketches or models before deciding to employ a specific material. But the shoe is on the other foot now in terms of my creative procedure. I go to my studio every day without any work schedule. I just let it happen in a random, natural manner.”

In terms of sculpture, Tsai regards forms as little more than media. People turn the form in the external world into their mental vision after seeing it with their eyes. Eyes precede mind, and forms precede feelings. The form will retreat as people feel the work, and the physical will then shift to the metaphysical.¹⁴

 ｜Tsai Ken, Four Seasons in the Mountains (partial), 2020, 180x64x130cm, Mixed media

9 Tsai Ken, “Self-narrative,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

10 Yang Zhao, “Between the Natural and Unnatural – Reading Tsai Ken,” Beyond the Horizon; Beyond the Form 1987-1997 (Taipei: Tsai Ken, 1998).

11 Tsai Ken, “Self-narrative,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

12 Tsai Ken, “Wandering in the Creative Play of Forms and Materials,” Wandering in the Creative Play of Forms and Materials: Tsai Ken Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Tsai Ken, 2015).

13 Tsai Chih Fen, "Tracing the Traces of Life's Turning Points: Studying Tsai's Linear Sculptures," Artist (Vol. 271, 1997).

14 Tsai Ken, “Self-narrative,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

15 Tsai Ken, “Self-narrative,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

According to the formal settings of Tsai’s sculptural works, we may roughly categorize them into object-based “figurativism” with concrete, recognizable images and object-based “landscaping” that portrays oriental gardens.

It’s noteworthy that Tsai’s emphasis on “starting from the materials” and “transcending the formal confines” in terms of expression does not necessarily imply that he violates the requirements of the original shapes. His creative technique still features the visual criteria such as symmetry/balance, fulcrum/center of gravity, mobile/stationary, and colors/lumps.¹⁶

─Object-based “Figurativism”─

Following the tradition of realistic figures, Tsai’s early clay sculptures underscore mass and volume with thickness and plumpness. Valuing family ties, Tsai treated his family as the most frequent subjects of his sculptural works at that time. [Family Album] (1982) is the last work created in his clay sculpture period. At the bottom is the bust of the artist per se as a father, atop which are his wife and two children shown in miniature figures. The father’s bust is as realistic as solemn with a stoic, resolute expression, whilst the design of the wife and children exudes the aura of unadorned beauty. This work can be deemed an important record of Tsai’s expression of his responsibility to his cherished family.

 ｜Tsai Ken, Family Album (partial), 1982 Shaping / 2006 Mounting, 24x21x65cm, Mixed media

Most of Tsai’s works follow the principles of “starting from the materials” and “transcending the formal confines.” He argued: “If the figurative is removed from the form of a work, the viewers will be freer to stretch their personal imagination and feelings.” This is why Tsai’s works are always categorized as non-figurative or abstract art.

In fact, Tsai does not absolutely exclude recognizable figurative images from his works. In the decades of his career as a sculptor, “figurativism” is his original intention as he began to engage in sculpture. This is a realm he is familiar with, and also part of his daily homework in private.

Tsai’s recent solo exhibitions contained figurative works as well. In his 2009 solo exhibition “The Great Form without Shape,” Tsai presented the “Buddha without Form Series” and “The Great Form without Shape Series,” which visualized his exploration of forms and shapes, including the trend of modern art aiming to shake off the shackles of visual images and his belief that artistic creation should not be limited to forms and shapes, but shall be inspirational and heart touching.¹⁷

 ｜Tsai Ken, Buddha Without Form I (partial), 2007, 45x28x115cm, Mixed media

The “Buddha without Form Series” originated from the wire that Tsai unconsciously wound in his studio. The wire gradually took shape, and Tsai saw it somewhat resembling the Buddha’s head, so he created the imagery accordingly. The Buddha’s head was roughly outlined owing to the limitations of winding wire by hand, yet the viewers can immediately recognize it, hence his idea of “Buddha without form.”

Tsai believes that, in the Chinese world, the Buddha’s image has been deeply rooted in people’s mind. Most people can recognize it just by looking at it from a distance. Therefore, the Buddha has no exact, concrete image, viz., the “Buddha without form.” Art critic Liao Ren-I further commented that the form of Tsai’s “Buddha without Form Series” is faintly discernible, “implying that the greatness of the Buddha does not lie in his form,” “devoutness should not be confined to image,” and “it’s not so much his image as his teaching that renders the Buddha divine.”¹⁸

The “Great Form without Shape Series” literally demonstrates “the camouflage-wearing elephants.” Tsai created a white elephant almost invisible against a white background, and an elephant standing in front of a colorful printed fabric with its body painted in the same pattern. The two elephants, one white and the other colorful, both hide their shapes in their respective worlds. The two elephants symbolize two different worlds, one sacred and the other secular. However, in whichever world, the great form has no shape.¹⁹

Tsai presented his “Handprint Series” in his 2015 solo exhibition “Wandering in the Creative Play of Forms and Materials.” He often models hands with readymade in his daily life, but he doesn’t create life-size works. In his “Handprint Series,” some pieces highlight thick palms, whilst others foreground slim and extended fingers. In [Handprint I], the symbolic gesture of the hand at the center of the composition is reminiscent of a mudra. It is wound with linear materials. A line is connected to a towering lotus pod while another to a feather pointing to the left, amidst which the Buddha’s hand sits upright and still. Following his early experiments with mixed media, Tsai ingeniously connects a stationary sculpture having a fixed form and volume with a linear flow of non-linear vectors, so that the energy of the work can be effectively expanded and released into the entire exhibition space,²⁰ showing the perfect balance between lightness and weight as well as between the real and the virtual in this work.

 ｜Tsai Ken, Handprint I (partial), 2012, 199x33x230cm, Mixed media

─Object-based “Landscaping”─

Art critic Jiang Yan-Chou put forward the idea of “landscaping” from the “intention” and the “spatial technique” in Tsai’s works.

Tsai once mentioned his longing for the lifestyle of ancient Chinese literati. Ancient literati’s mental cultivation was embodied in their paintings, calligraphic works, and household utensils that were used in home life decoration to express their feelings and aspirations. Tsai’s mind often lingers on this literati conception, hence his object-based “landscaping” as a response.

In his 2006 solo exhibition “Still Life,” Tsai presented a series of “wall-mounted” works that imitate the artistic conception of Chinese ink wash painting. Take the work [Windy Day] (2003) for example. Tsai composed a landscape with readymade such as twigs, stones, iron rods, and wooden windows. The twig on the left is a miniature version of a forest. The stone at the upper right represents clouds. The square frame and small stones at the lower right imply a pond and pebbles. All the materials are gently tilted and extended to the right, echoing the title “windy day.” It’s nothing short of a natural view in breeze outside the window.

There is no such thing as formal criteria for the use of materials in Tsai’s wall-mounted works. A stone could be a layer of cloud, a pebble, or a pedestal. If we look at his works only from the perspective of Western abstract sculpture without referring to Chinese ink wash imagery, we’ll be unable to recognize the mountains, forests, clouds, and windows from the lumps and lines of the materials, nor will we be able to appreciate the tranquil and contented delight in the spatial composition of Tsai’s works.²⁴

 ｜Tsai Ken, Windy Days (partial), 2003, 132x86x45cm, Mixed media

Comparing with the home-deco style of his wall-mounted works, Tsai’s another type of object-based landscaping is relatively large in scale that dominates a whole area. Take the work [View from Desktop] (2008) in his 2009 solo exhibition “The Great Form without Shape” for example. This work stretches horizontally with two mutually connected long desks, on which lie the dead branches and the calligraphic works by Lee Yih-Hong. The sole vertical visual attraction comprises a withered lotus pod and leaves in a pot of charcoal at the junction of the two desks. Tsai constructed a view of a literati desk on which the calligraphic works lie scattered together with a deliberately arranged potted plant. In the elapsing of time, the calligraphic works remain on the desk, whereas the plant wilts. The passage of time brings about changes, but it seems that there is still something that can be left intact.

 ｜Tsai Ken, View from Desktop (partial), 2008, 420x120x90cm, Mixed media

16 Chen Yung Hsien, “Wood and Stone Duet: Discussing Tsai Ken's Sculptures.”

17 Liao Ren-I, “The Philosophy Behind Tsai Ken’s Sculptures – From Using Object to Express Emotions to Using Object to Create an Atmosphere,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

18 Liao Ren-I, “The Philosophy Behind Tsai Ken’s Sculptures – From Using Object to Express Emotions to Using Object to Create an Atmosphere,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

19 Liao Ren-I, “The Philosophy Behind Tsai Ken’s Sculptures – From Using Object to Express Emotions to Using Object to Create an Atmosphere,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

20 Shih Jui-Jen, “A Review on Tsai Ken’s Line Play Show,” Line Play: Tsai Ken’s 1996 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Taipei County Cultural Center, 1996).

21 Jiang Yan-Chou, “Enlightening Union of Sculpture, Painting, and Gardening – Visual Aura of Tsai Ken’s Work,” Still Life: Tsai Ken 2006 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2006).

22 Tsai Ken, “Self-narrative,” The Great Form Without Shape: Tsai Ken 2009 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2009).

23 Tsai Ken, “Wandering in the Creative Play of Forms and Materials,” Wandering in the Creative Play of Forms and Materials: Tsai Ken Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Tsai Ken, 2015).

24 Jiang Yan-Chou, “Enlightening Union of Sculpture, Painting, and Gardening – Visual Aura of Tsai Ken’s Work,” Still Life: Tsai Ken 2006 Solo Exhibition (Taipei: Main Trend Gallery, 2006).