Liquid Poise: The Ease of Impermanence

2025.08.09-2025.09.14

Artists

HSU Yu-Jen

TENG Pu-Chun

Cindy Ng Sio Ieng

Nick DONG

8/9 Sat.

15:00  Opening Event

16:00  Opening

Liquid Poise: The Ease of Impermanence

Text / Jenny CHANG

As per Eastern philosophy and aesthetics, water is far more than a natural substance—it is a vital medium and spiritual metaphor in art creation. Within the field of Eastern art, water embodies a unique sense of spatiality, reflecting the interweave between presence and absence, and the concept of creation arising from emptiness. Deeply influenced by Buddhist core concept of pratītyasamutpāda (Dependent-arising and emptiness) and Taoism notions of non-being (The void), water symbolizes the formless and impermanent. By virtue of its formless essence, water merge seamlessly with all things, adapting to any vessel—becoming a potent symbol of boundlessness, indeterminacy, and transformation in the spatial imagination of Eastern art.

In terms of Diamond Sutra: “All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, or shadows; like dew and lightning—one should contemplate them in this way.” These words illuminate the ephemeral nature of human life and the illusory quality of all things, reflecting the ever-shifting, unattached essence of water. This kind of carefreeness mirroring the core of Eastern spatial philosophy, evokes a pursuit of awareness, detachment, and transcendence.

“Liquid Poise: The Ease of Impermanence” is a group exhibition by four Taiwanese artists HSU Yu-Jen (b. 1951), TENG Pu-Chun (b. 1957), Cindy Ng Sio Ieng (b. 1966) and Nick DONG (b. 1973). Presenting works that incorporate contemporary ink painting, mixed media and installations. The exhibition explores the dynamic, fluid, and transformative qualities of water, while also expressing the artists’ unhurried approach to life. This philosophy is particularly evident in the art practices of both HSU Yu-Jen and TENG Pu-Chun—Their works are rich in perceptual depth and spatial tension, revealing a poetic aesthetic within contemporary discourse. The whimsical sense of fun and a distinctively uncanny visual style emphasize the artists’ playful spirit and laid-back vibe that is manifest in their creative processes. In contrast, the works of Cindy Ng Sio Ieng and Nick DONG experimental approaches in action painting and installation, capturing the flow of water as a palpable spatial presence. Their works, filled with temporality and expansiveness, construct a dreamlike sensory that opens up a different sensuality of water.

Through the unique artistic practices and breakthroughs of these four artists, the exhibition responds to how contemporary ink painting crosses formal boundaries and transcends painting itself, while reexamination the meaning of “water” in Eastern philosophical thought. It also explores the spatiality, temporality, and performativity in ink art, inviting viewers into a territory that is silent, formless, and infinite. In this heterotopia where intertwine across the past, present, and future, the exhibition embarks on a time-space journey that moves between both the realm of spiritual and reality. It opens up a metaphysical field—one that is observable, traversable, contemplative, and even habitable—allowing viewers to delve into their inner worlds and experience the boundless potential within multidimensional perceptions.