ART TAIPEI 2022

<Essence> is part of Taiwanese artist Julia Hung's copper wire sculpture series. The creative technique was inspired by the craftsmanship of traditional weaving, and the choice of incorporating metal as medium creates a whole new form. The artwork weaves an ultimate feast of the senses and represents Kavalan's pursuit of exquisite craftsmanship and spirit of innovation.
The center of the piece almost performs like an amber-colored liquid flowing and spreading across sideways like aroma and flavor dissipating - a sculptural depiction of Kavalan's quest for the ultimate flavor.

Déjà vu Series

As a sculptor, Hung uses crocheting techniques to carefully weave stiff metal fibers into silky, organic forms. Her net-like creations, which radiate warmth from every knotted strand of bright, translucent copper, exude a unique sense of space, as if encapsulating an entire self-sufficient microcosm. At the outset of the creative process, she simply follows her instincts, without a desired form in mind, weaving over and over in seemingly random fashion until each piece comes to life. It is only at the end of this process that the artist appears to have been guided by an unconscious, latent design, each creative decision predetermined by an unseen blueprint. Beginning, middle, and end—ordinarily considered an immutably linear sequence—are thus blurred, inspiring Hung to transcend the three-dimensional. Throughout the series runs a fundamental question: does the creative process have the power to tap into déjà vu? If it indeed mingles the familiar with the unfamiliar, why can it not ‘reconstruct’ future recollections?

All pieces in her 2022 Déjà Vu series are named after the season and order in which they were produced, just like entries in a diary, but with time crystallized in intricate copper-wire configurations. These glittering microcosms, shaped in equal parts by the creative process and the vicissitudes of day-to-day existence, offer new insights into the essence of art and the meaning of life.