Julia HUNG Solo Show: An unusual knot
Julia HUNG Solo Show: An unusual knot
2021.Sept.18th — Oct.17th
Hiro Hiro Art Space is honored to host An Unusual Knot – a solo exhibition by Julia Hung – which will run from Sep. 18th (Saturday) to Oct. 17th (Sunday), 2021.
A proud alumna of Geneva University of Art and Design, Julia Hung holds an M.F.A. (Master of Fine Arts) degree in contemporary artistic practices.
When working with metal, Hung removes its common association to coldness and rigidness by applying methods inspired by her grandmother’s crocheting techniques. She treats metal material as silk threads, gently and finely weaving them into organic, semi-translucent copper wire sculptures, creating rather unique spatial sensations. Through her artworks, Hung raises questions towards the reality and possibility of free will, discussing and reflecting on subjective free will as well as thought processes that go into the creation of an artwork.
The exhibition title “An Unusual Knot” is borrowed from the mathematical term nontrivial knot, which refers to a knot that cannot be untied in a 3-dimensional space. Hung takes the concept of this idea and interprets various “unusual knots” – a series of 3-dimensional sculptures created by her practice of weaving and crisscrossing copper wires. She attempts at expressing how nature, nurture, and memories are all entangled in our thread of consciousness – influencing our decision-making at all moments, turning all shapes into “unusual knots,” and eventually we are left with the completed artwork – something with the appearance of “free will.”
However, how much of our “voluntary” decision-making is achieved “freely”? External and internal factors such as nature, nurture, and memories mold us while holding us down at the same time; we are torn between freedom and constraints like untouched threads undergoing weaving, mutually pulling in never-ending cycles, outlining endless loops that penetrate and perforate each other spatially, forming a tangible, webbing sculpture.
Meanwhile, as an artist, Hung experiences intuitive creation where there is zero composition. With seemingly no pre-made plans, she weaves continuously until the artwork is “born,” almost as if already having a hidden blueprint in mind that guides her through every knot-choosing in the creative process. What looked like a linear process – the beginning, process, and end – brought her beyond the 3-dimensional to reflect on whether it is at all possible for non-linear time and free will to coexist. And yet, free will resembles unusual knots – wherein freedom and constraints are impossible to untie from each other.
About Artist
Julia Hung was born in 1986, Taipei, Taiwan. She has traveled and lived in many countries since childhood. She majored and graduated from the illustration program with a bachelor of design from OCAD University in 2012. In 2016, she obtained a master of fine art degree from the Work.Master – Contemporary Artist Practice program at HEAD, Geneva.
Julia Hung often explores and experiments with different materiality to find new possibilities. In 2020, she received Merit Award from ‘Pingtung Fine Arts Exhibition’. In 2017, she received Judge’s Award from ‘New Heads – Fondation BNP Paribas Art Awards’ in Geneva. She illustrated for Marie Claire China from 2013 to 2015. Her art pieces have been collected by the established Artvera’s gallery in Geneva and private collectors in Europe.
Recent selected exhibitions including Art Zone, Taiwan Lantern Festival, Ping Tung, Taiwan, 2019; Immortagram, Element, Taipei, Taiwan, 2018; L’Oranger, Art Geneve, Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland, 2017; L’Oranger, LIYH(LiveInYourHead Gallery), Geneva Switzerland, 2017; Bourgeois Bore, Istituto Svizzero di Roma, Rome Italy, 2014.
Selected Works
Multifoil
enameled copper wire, acrylic board
H118 x W70 x D24 cm
2021
Pink Torus
enameled copper wire
H98 x W60 x L60 cm
2021
Spun Twist
enameled copper wire, acrylic board
H120 x W60 x L58 cm
2021
Press
OCT/2021 no.349
p. 134-135
Hiro Hiro Art Space 