Syu Jia-Jhen

Syu Jia-Jhen was born in 1986 in Changhua, Taiwan, and obtained his BFA in Sculpture at Taiwan National University of Arts. His art practice aims to reinterpret the changes between human activities and objects, while integrating the relationship of history and aesthetics. Through his sculptural approach he explores new ways to examine the materiality and sensibilities of objects, towards an understanding of the shifting relationship between humanity, objects and industries. Syu’s earlier work examines how local modernist sculptures that exist today are threaded within Taiwan’s process of urban development and the transfer of political power, reflecting the historical discourse of memorials as well as the changes in aesthetic trends. His work reinterprets the changing values towards the perception of ‘pedestals’, ‘memorial objects’ and ‘sculpture’. For Syu, objects not only reflect the shifting trends of the times – a binary existence of the old and the new, but also stems from a psychological identity. The question of how to create a third kind of distinction for existence, avoiding the nostalgia of history, is Syu’s foundational aesthetic consideration. Previous exhibitions include: So Far, So Right: A Study of Reforms and Transitions Across Borders, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei (2018); Here & There – 2018 Treasure Hill Light Festival, Treasure Hill Artist Village, Taipei (2018); Incommensurable – Formosa Sculpture Biennial 2015, Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung (2015); Wormhole Theater, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung (2014); Land Up in the Ground, Crane Gallery, Kaohsiung (2013); Street Art: We Are the City, Thailand Ratchaburi, Thailand (2013); All is Not Forgotten solo exhibition, Art 8, Hsinchu (2013). Curatorial: Abandoned by Life, 57 Art Studio, Tainan (2012); Difficult Mistake, Nanhai Gallery, Taipei (2011).