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
Press
OCT/2021 no.349
p. 134-135
CV
Born 1986 in Taipei; currently based between Taipei and New York
Education
2016 Master of art HES-SO in Fine Art,Work Master – Contemporary Artist Practice, HEAD, Geneva
2012 Bachelor of Design, Illustration, OCAD University, Toronto
Solo Exhibition (Selected)
2023
Untamed, Soka Art, Tainan
2021
An Unusual Knot, Hiro Hiro Art Space, Taipei
The Miscellaneous of Being and Living, New Taipei City Arts Center, New Taipei City
2020
Will Looped, The Art Space by the Studio, Taipei
Group Exhibition / Collaboration (Selected)
2025
When Night Falls, TKG+ Projects, Taipei
2024
Art Taipei 2024, Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1, Taipei
Airy Disk, River Art Gallery, Taichung
Taipei Dangdai, NODE, Taipei Nangan Exhibition Center, Taipei
Voices, POPOP Taipei, Taipei
2023
Art Taipei 2023, Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1, Taipei
Art Osaka 2023, Osaka City Central Public Hall, Osaka City
Forestry Island Eco Art Festival 2023, Pingtung
Similarities, San Gallery, Tainan
2022
The Seedin Lab – Ocean, The Seedin Lab, Taipei
Art Taipei 2022, Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1, Taipei
Artificial Phenomena, Centurion House, Taipei
2021
All Solo!, Dadaocheng Project by Liang Gallery, OrigInn Space, Taipei
2020
Pingtung Art Exhibition, Pingtung Art Museum, Pingtung
2019
Taiwan Lantern Festival, Pingtung
2018
Immortagram, Element, Taipei
2017
Art Genève, Palexpo, Geneva
L’Oranger, LIYH (LiveInYourHead Gallery), Geneva
2016
Happy Silly Kids , HEAD, Geneva
Chantier Confort , Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers
2014
White Noise , HEAD, Geneva
Bourgeois Bore, ISTITUTO SVIZZERO DI ROMA, Rome
2013
Eggspectation – Sunny Side Up, HEAD, Geneva
Award
2024
Asian Cultural Council, New York Fellowship, Grantee, New York
2023
Taoyuan Fine Arts Exhibition Finalist, Taoyuan
2020
Pingtung Fine Art Award Runner-up, Pingtung
2017
New Heads – Fondation BNP Paribas Art Awards Finalist, Geneva
Collection
King Car Cultural & Educational Foundation, Taipei
Artvera’s Gallery, Geneve
Hon Hui Rui Guang CO., LTD., Taipei
Indigo Hotel Alishan, Chiayi
Publication / Writing
2023 Untamed
2017 L’Oranger (exhibition catalogue)
2016
Vrai de Vrai / Real de Real – In The Mood for Egg
A Recipe of No Recipe