YANG Zong-Jia: Under the delicate

YANG Zong-Jia

YANG Zong-Jia: Under the delicate

2021 MAR 6 — APR 4

JHANG, HUEI-HUEI

“Wounds can be repaired, but you will always remember where the pain was.” – Yang Zong-Jia.

The newborn twin with a teardrop, pursed lips, floating on the glacier(Snow, 2020); two back-to-back narcissus boys bow their heads and calmly close their eyes with a mirror hung on their chests(Reflection, 2021); the teddy bear boy opens his arms with sharp beast claws, naively waiting for a hug (Bear I, 2020). Yang Zong-Jia’s solo exhibition “Under the delicate” creates a dreamy playroom of children on two levels at Hiro Hiro Art Space, intending to recreate his repressed and lost childhood in a sweet yet hidden, dangerous way. A total of 24 sculptures are exhibited, showcasing two motifs, “Twins” and “Sex.”

Retracing the lost childhood with “Twins.

For a long time, “Twins” has been the central motif of Yang’s work. In his works like “Snow (2020)”, “Twin tress (2020)”, and “Twin could (2020)”, Yang Zong-Jia reveals his identity as the twin. His twin brother, however, passed away at the age of one, leaving them unable to grow up together. These hand-sculpted porcelain dolls in various forms seem exquisite and delicate, yet “delicacy” not only portrays porcelain’s fragility but also the fragility of life itself. “I use the delicate porcelain dolls to express the fragility of life and my incompetence to do anything about saving my brother,” said Yang Zong-Jia.

He was even unable to save his young self. In the traditional gender stereotype of Taiwanese society, where boys are not allowed to play with dolls or love the color pink, he lacked the confidence to be himself. And it is barely conceivable for a child who had been restrained by external voices since childhood to say out loud, “I don’t belong here; I belong to myself.” As a result, Yang Zong-Jia’s dolls purse their lips in sorrowful, as survivors with great tolerance and stubbornness.

Fortunately, he has art. After adulthood, Yang Zong-Jia uses the fragile characteristic of porcelain to express the unstable relationships between several dualities, male/female, child/adult, real/illusory and so on. As a person liable to disguise, only when he faces his creations can he let his hair down.

The exhibition room on the first floor is designed as a playroom. When bypassing the colorful wall, there is a child’s bedroom facing the outside the large window of Hiro Hiro Art Space, where the public/private area has almost no boundaries. Works “Little white riding hood, 2020”, “Shadow Ghost, 2021”, “Rainbow girl, 2020”, “Twinkle-Twinkle, 2020” are displayed on a bed, which are painted in his childhood-favorite color, pink.

Unveil the sugar coating, confront the desire.

Art is the language that allows Yang to speak of his authentic self. “My twin brother’s death had a great impact on me during my upbringing, and it was only at a very late stage did I realize I had to identify myself.” He has then developed a series about sex, beginning with “Sex is Undoubtedly Pure” (2017) and continuing with “Flesh Habitat: Flesh Buds” and “Flesh Habitat: Flesh Chrysalis,” which won the Gold Prize in National Art Exhibition in 2019. Confronting the desire, each “sex toy” is an extension of “Porcelain dolls.”

“Sex toys are an extension of the sex organs, soothing people’s physiological needs. To me, it is like a pacifier. Pacifier is a pursuit and satisfaction of oral desires and psychosexuality to a baby; the nature of sex toys, dealing with human sexuality and desires, is no different,” said Yang Zong-Jia.

Yang Zong-Jia combines children’s soothing toys with adult sex toys. “Animations that use transformation as a power, with magical items that turn into weapons through a spell—for me, this has a solid sexual connotation,” said Yang. His works of sex toys are his magic wand, using them to summon his other identity. Whether his childhood or sex, they are all part of Yang. Chen Pin-Yu, the founder of Hiro Hiro Art Space, said: “Zong-Jia’s works seem sweet in appearance, but not exactly. The combination of “Sex Toys” and “Porcelain dolls” may counterbalance the viewer’s impression of sweetness. Under the delicate form, everyone has desires, and we hope to remove the sweet coating little by little to take a peek at the artist’s inner world”

The delicate is shameless, and beautiful.

Aside from sweetness, senses of loneliness, wildness, and desires are all hidden in the mended cracks of Yang Zong-Jia’s artworks. Pointing to the works that appear to have never cracked, pure white and flawless, Yang said lightly, “People think that having cracks on ceramic is a flaw, but that is an inevitable process for ceramics. 

He admits that the most time-consuming and exhausting part of the porcelain creation process is repairing. Cracks, as injuries in life, are unavoidable, but people try hard to repair them so that the wounds can eventually disappear and heal. However, anyone who has been wounded can still remember the location of the wound. ” If the ceramic cracked, it cracked. The whole thing has changed, and nothing can reverse it and bring it back to its original state,” said Yang. “Just like the wounds I got during my upbringing, no matter how well they recovered, I know the place of the wound is never actually gone,” he paused and smiled, “but it will heal and become new skin.” 

YANG Zong-Jia

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YANG Zong-Jia, born in 1992 in Taiwan and studied at Tainan National University of Arts, major in Material Arts and Design before earning his Masters in Applied Arts from Tainan National University of Arts Graduate Institute. Yang Zong-Jia is skilled in ceramics, fiber, and multimedia combination of sculptures and installations. He won the gold prize of the 9th National Art sculpture awards in 2019, the first prize of the 6th NEXT ART TAINAN Awards in 2019, the first prize of the 3rd Taiwan Young Pottery Artist Award in 2017 and was collected by Sunpride Foundation and HCG.

CV

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2018　Graduated from Graduate Institute of Applied Arts, Tainan National University of Arts

2015　Graduated from Department of Material Arts and Design, Tainan National University of Arts

1992　Born in Taiwan

Award

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2019
The 9th National Art Exhibition, Sculpture, Gold Prize winner 
The 6th NEXT ART TAINAN Awards, First Prize

2017
The 3rd Taiwan Young Pottery Artist Award, First Prize　
Taiwan Ceramics Awards, Selected　

2015　
The 33rd Taoyuan Fine Arts, Sculpture, Selected
New Taipei City Ceramics Awards, Selected

2014　
The 7th Taiwan Golden Ceramics Award, Judge’s Choices Award(Student Group)
Miaoli Ceramic Awards, Selected

Solo exhibition

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2024
“Gleaming Innocence”, Hiro Hiro Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan

2022
“In the Name of Love, Courage & Hope”, Mizuiro Workshop, Tainan, Taiwan

2021
“Under the delicate”, Hiro Hiro Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan

2020　
“Moment of Disobedience”, Mizuiro Workshop, Tainan, Taiwan

2019　
Arts Residency solo exhibition, Shanghai Art & Design Academy, Shanghai, China
“The Invisible Dimensions”, Aglow Art Space, Tainan, Taiwan

2018　
“A longing for pink: YANG Zong-Jia Solo exhibition”, diida ART BOX, Taipei, Taiwan

2017　
“Angels of sex” , Lalaland, Arkansas, USA
“Bailang Tao-Tao Solo exhibition of YANG Zong-Jia”, Art B12, Changhua, Taiwan

2016
“Small Star Burning Bright”, YIRI ARTS, Taichung, Taiwan

2015　
“Healing body theory”, SHIN KONG MITSUKOSHI Tainan Fun Centre Art corner, Tainan, Taiwan

2013　
“O2&CO2”, Mizuiro Workshop, Tainan, Taiwan

Group exhibition

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2019
“Twins in mythology”, CC gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
“Consummate ceramics”, Gallery Life Seeding, Taipei, Taiwan
National Art Exhibition, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan

2018
“IAC Taiwan Satellite Exhibition: Stars Group Exhibition”, diida ART BOX, Taipei, Taiwan
“IAC Taiwan Satellite Exhibition: Contemporary Touch: 2018 Finnish Ceramic Art in Taiwan”, Miaoli, Taiwan
“Ceramics Generations: Exploring Taiwan Contemporary Ceramics”, New Taipei, Taiwan
“Contemporary Ceramic Art in Asia”, Seoul, South Korea

2017
The 3rd Taiwan Young Pottery Artist Award & Biennale, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, Taipei Branch, Taipei, Taiwan
Taiwan Ceramics Awards, Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei, Taiwan

2016
“STUNNING EDGE: 2016 Contemporary Ceramic Art in Asia”, Taipei, Taiwan
“Ning・Chi: 2016 Contemporary Asian Ceramic Invitation Exhibition”, Emei, China

2015　
The 33rd Taoyuan Fine Arts Exhibition, Zhongli Arts Hall, Taoyuan, Taiwan
“Experimental Field•New Course: Contemporary Asian Ceramics Exchange Exhibition”, CAA Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
The 2nd New Taipei City Ceramics Awards, Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei, Taiwan
“Coexist+Exhibition-Death at daybreak?”, FreeS Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan

2014　
The 7th Taiwan Golden Ceramics Award, Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei, Taiwan
Miaoli Ceramic Awards, Culture and Tourism Bureau Miaoli County, Miaoli, Taiwan
Coexist Exhibition Online exhibition

2013　
“Functionality and Formation, Contemporary Ceramic Arts in Asia: Exchange of the New Generation”, Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Aichi, Japan
“Functionality and Formation, Contemporary Ceramic Arts in Asia: Exchange of the New Generation”, 21th Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan

Art Fair

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2019 
ART KAOHSIUNG, City Suites, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
ART TAIPEI, Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1, Taipei, Taiwan
ART FORMOSA, eslite hotel, Taipei, Taiwan
KIAF, Seoul, South Korea

2018 
ART FORMOSA, eslite hotel, Taipei, Taiwan

2017　
ART KAOHSIUNG, City Suites, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

2016　
ART TAICHUNG, Millennium Hotel, Taichung, Taiwan
ART FORMOSA, Humble House Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
Art Tainan, Tayih Landis Hotel, Tainan, Taiwan

2015　
ART KAOHSIUNG, City Suites, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
ART TAICHUNG, Millennium Hotel, Taichung, Taiwan
ART OSAKA, Hotel Granvia Osaka, Osaka, Japan

2014　
Beijing International Art Exposition, Beijing Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China

Public Collection

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Sunpride Foundation

HCG

University of Arkansas

Shanghai Art & Design Academy

Flower City Arts Center

GLOBAL STRATEGIC INVESTMENT INC.

Featured works

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Press

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