"The story starts from a scheme that describes the branching phenomenon of a tree.
A tree grows from the ground with its roots reaching deep into the soil, the trunk is the steady center with branches reaching up and out. Along the branches and at the tips, leaves sprout, or, depending on the season, may bloom with abundance of white petals. This is what happens in an ordinary scenario. As the roots of the tree settle in fertile soil, the leaves and branches form and become part of the landscape. The tree continues to grow and more branches are added and decorated with flower buds that will bloom and wither in the wind. With time, the tree will fall, but another tree will grow in its place, thus continuing the cycle of life on the earth, a part of the great scheme."
The contemporary metal arts and jewelry design went through profound development in Taiwan between 1990 and 2020. Over the past 30 years, many artists in the creative field worked hard to demonstrate their pioneering spirits. The goal of New Taipei City Government Gold Museum is to promote and develop contemporary metal arts and jewelry design in Taiwan and they carry out the mission through research, competitions, and exhibitions.
The international trend of contemporary metal arts and jewelry design first emerged in the 1960s and opened up many new avenues of creativity in terms of materials, techniques, types, and concepts. Production techniques underwent dramatic changes through the adoption of traditional methods as well as the introduction of modern scientific and industrial technologies. Thus, ideas and concepts of creation crossed traditional barriers and merged with modern design and fine art to form a new artistic stage.
We explore the developing history of contemporary metal arts and jewelry design in Taiwan, and present this exhibition online as well as offline. The online exhibition includes “Significant contributors of Taiwanese contemporary metal arts”, “The middle-age who pass on traditions”, and “The young generation who embrace the future”. The offline exhibition features selected young metalwork artists and their works have been divided into two categories: “Jewelry and Body Objects” and “Vessels and Metal Objects”. The merged online and offline exhibition demonstrates a branching phenomenon of contemporary metal arts and jewelry design in Taiwan.
The offline exhibition presents twelve young generation artists from Taiwan. They are in tune with the current artistic trends and international development. Their works query the nature of contemporary artistic creativity in the metal arts and jewelry design in Taiwan. The online and offline exhibitions contrast and complement each other to create a detailed aesthetic synthesis outlining the artists’ creative context and style both as part of a specific generation and at the individual level.
