Under the Same Sky
Solo exhibition at Mor Charpentier, Paris, France
27 June ~ 3 August 2024
Photo by Francois Doury, Courtesy of Mor Charpentier
Under the Same Sky —Charwei Tsai’s third solo exhibition at mor charpentier— offers a comprehensive overview of her artistic practice, which closely intertwines art and spirituality through the elements that make her work so unique: a transdisciplinary approach combining drawing, sculpture, video, and photography.
A nomadic and cosmopolite artist, enriching her artistic practice through multiple trips, Charwei Tsai has explored her spirituality through years of travel, that have immersed her in ancient wisdom traditions from around the world. Her practice is profoundly informed by eastern philosophy and by its texts in particular, such as the Heart Sutra, which draws attention to the emptiness and ephemeral nature of all natural phenomena. It is often transcribed with delicacy over different objects, like shellfish — following their pattern of growth, thus demonstrating the transitory nature of the sutra — or over her recent series of paintings on canvas, made with mineral pigments. For the living, it is recited as a method to connect our inner light with the cosmic light and to see the nature of reality, which is independent.
Her video and installation practice, on the other hand, often focus on social and ecological issues, such as forced migration, incarceration, and environmental degradation. Despite addressing these critical themes, Tsai views herself not as an activist but as an intermediary between art and the world. Through her works she lends her voice to marginalized communities and manifests her commitment to social justice.
Numbers, for instance, a video featuring the voice of Yang Tsui —granddaughter of Taiwanese writer Yang Kui, a political prisoner on the Green Island from 1949 to 1961—, reflects on the reduction of human lives and values to mere numbers in authoritarian and capitalist regimes. But as most of her works, the use of frozen water to represent the impermanence of life, particularly when threatened, emphasizes the ephemeral nature of spiritual and material beings.
Charwei Tsai’s practice embraces sustainability and the preservation of traditional forms of craftsmanship. She collaborates with local communities, sharing resources and promoting a circular economy. Through a critique of the neoliberal structures of contemporary art and society that deplete natural resources and the human spirit, Tsai advocates for ecological consciousness and resource sharing. While aiming to replace the current state of dissatisfaction with practices of offering and solidarity, she pleads for a more mindful and interconnected way of inhabiting the Earth.
In essence, Charwei Tsai’s work is a profound exploration of the cosmic and spiritual dimensions of existence. Through her work as an artist, she invites viewers to contemplate the impermanence and interdependence of life, challenging normative structures and advocating for a more compassionate and sustainable world. Her oeuvre is a testament to the power of art to transcend boundaries and connect us to the deeper rhythms of the universe.
