Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

Hung Means Red: A Solo Exhibition by Su-Chen Hung displayed 15 installation masterpieces by the pioneering multi-media artist, HUNG Su-Chen, from 1980 until today. Using the color red as a source of inspiration to connect various cultural and social changes, the exhibition presented a vast array of themes and diverse media. From her early video installation that focused on identity politics to her recent works of red strings (Falling Red and The Origin of Red) that communicated sensibility, her works were extremely outstanding as they were delicate, yet possessed compelling sculptural power. (Commentator: CHANG Hsiao-Hung)

Artwork Introduction

As a conceptual artist, most of Hung Su-Chen’s works are closely related to human behavior. However, one of the highly distinctive characteristics of Hung’s style is that she is able to bring the use of diverse materials to the extreme. In her hand, ants become a symbol of humans; red thread indicates connection as well as separation; and lips and mouth symbolize both spoken words and silence. In her work, we witness that the materials are transformed into living participants in her work. Meanwhile, Hung’s major works all demonstrate the quality of ephemerality, and are constructed with subtle, delicate, and elusive materials, like light and red thread. So, these recurring materials have formed her predominant theme. This is the key that one must grasp when interpreting the underlying lyricism and sorrow of Hung’s work.

About the Artist 

Su-Chen Hung grew up in Taiwan and has lived in San Francisco since 1977. Studying Chinese Literature at Tunghai University in Taiwan, she later graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. She earned her BFA in Photography and her MFA in Filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Hung’s work is simple and elegant. Sometimes intensely personal, sometimes a dialogue with cultural and social subjects, the work always begins with a conceptual and visual core idea. Both her studio work and her large-scale public art projects have a meditative aura. She creates places of contemplation and repose.