EVA Kwong and the Human Body Eastern Essay

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EVA Kwong and the Human Body

Eastern philosophy and culture are highly driven by an underlying sense of animism, which denotes that there is life and interconnectedness in all things. The trees, rocks, soil, air and even our own bodies are seen as connected on a continuum that is imbued with the energy of life. This is perhaps the underlying principle defining the work of Hong Kong-born sculptor Eva Kwong. Indeed, this principle converges with the Western ideals of abstract representation to shape the remarkable body of work the Kwong has produced. Pursuing the larger part of her studies in American universities and ultimately becoming a professor at Kent State University, according to the article by Hawk (2010), Kwong's work suggests a philosophical convergence of both Eastern and Western values. Particularly, as the discussion here shows, Kwong's best works express this idea of animism through abstract representations of the aspects, operations and atoms comprising the human body. This idea that a certain energy connects all things living and sedentary is the central premise that runs through Kwong's ceramic and porcelain sculptures.

Objective Analysis:

Working within her selected medium, Kwong describes the content of her work as owing to both her place of birth and the context in which she has developed as an artist. As Kwong reports in the article by Hawk, "I am interested in the interconnection of everything in the world, from microcosm to macrocosm. Maybe it is because I grew up with both eastern and western cultures. I was brought up with the traditional chinese concept of yin and yang that underlies all life forms and energies. This was discussed everyday with my grandmother who also passed on to me the joy of making things. Growing up in Hong Kong and New York, I learned to look at everything through the lens of both cultures.

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" (Hawk, p. 1)

Through this lens, Kwong would produce a series of pieces over the course of her career that explore the various dimensions of life and humanity in ways that drive the imagination and stimulate the eyes. Much of her work draws a strong contrast between the bulky and unlikely shapes that the body might take and the delicate and moving details that hide within. For instance, the article by Hoffmann (2008) describes and shows an image of Kwong's 2003 piece entitled Soft Cell. The obtuse and rounded ends of the object are relieved by a subtle shading and a porous surface texture, implying both the sturdiness and the elegant detail of life at the subatomic level. As Hoffmann describes it, the porcelain piece "is made up of two equal size modified spheres, separating but most definitely not sepearte. Wood-fired and salt-glazed, the clay body is visible. In the shapes might be a hint of mitosis. I feel repose, and I feel tension." (Hoffmann, p. 1)

Here, the contrasting responsive emotions experienced by the author perfectly reflect the contrast of the object itself. Another important dimension detailed by the author is the feeling of action present in the sculpture. Much of Kwong's work conveys the notion that there is a biological process in progress, that the sculpture itself remains somewhat in motion.

One of the most compelling examples of this phenomenon is Kwong's 'Energy Vibrations," which offers an installation of marble-like objects with a multitude of patterns. The rounded porcelain objects are arranged in a shape almost resembling an eye. Using a palette of pale-mint greens and burnt sienna, Kwong yields a broad variation of swirls, bullseyes, dots and solids. The effect is a stunning array of patterns and impressions that belie the decidedly limited range of selected….....

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