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Enlightened Clay: The Abstractions of Shida
Kuo
by Dr. Judith Schwartz
Please note: This article appeared in
Ceramics: Art and Perception, December
2004, Issue 58, and is presented here
courtesy of Ceramics Art and Perception
Pty Ltd. Graphics were published by Eslite
Gallery.
There is something pure about Shida Kuo's
ceramic sculptures. By pure, I do not mean
virtuous or innocent, but pure as in
intuitive and honest. Kuo's forms are
pared to essences. There is no pretension.
They are about form - human form with its
organic possibilities and about surface,
which he integrates seamlessly.
Perhaps it is Kuo's early painting
background (BFA from National Taiwan
Normal University) and his Eastern
heritage that create this understanding
and appreciation of materials and
technique. His simple, Zen-like concerns
are antithetical to much of the ceramic
art of the West - where more often than
not, form is articulated with strong
imagery, pattern or strident color. Kuo's
message is subtle by comparison, so pared
to essentials that the viewer must spend
time with the art to fully appreciate and
discover what the work is about.
Texture and nuance of color are literally
integrated into the surface of the clay
using a laborious process of stone rubbing
oxides and stains for hours into the
surface of the work. The result is a soft,
elegant, non-decorative appearance. Such
subtly of surface exudes an emotional
sensitivity within the walls of the form
that goes beyond the narrative and is
typically found in the work of Noguchi and
Brancusi, who, like Kuo, understood truth
of material, purity of thought,
tranquility of mind and an enlightened
state.
To understand the understated in Kuo's
recent body of ceramic sculptures, it
might be best to look at Eastern
calligraphy, where line to paper is
considered "high art" only when the artist
is enlightened. When the ink-laden brush
on the page informs the hand, heart and
mind of the artist – true spirit is
evoked. Tanshcu Terayama, in his book
Zen Calligraphy notes “that art is
achieved when the hand is not guided by a
conscious effort but when the artist is
willing to expose himself. A person
shallow in experience or cultivation
cannot draw a line that reveals depth. A
person lacking vitality will not draw a
line that resonates with energy. Even a
single straight line can be a mirror of
the spirit...it
is only then that the line shines with
purity.”
Kuo's ceramic sculptures resonate with
Terayama’s concepts as well. One feels
that the work is not a product of a
conscious effort, but rises, instead,
out of a state of "true thought," a
state beyond emotion, calculation and
expectation. He knows, for example that
the porosity of the clay, like that of
paper, will absorb color into the
thickness of the surface so that the
surface appears to “breathe.” He knows
that what is not said can often be more
revealing to the viewer, fully involving
them in the interpretive exchange.
His work is primal, mystical, and just
plain beautiful. While elements of
sexual innuendo abound, sexual
implication is blended with beauty to
attain deeper levels of sensual
understanding. There are mysterious
orifices, slits, holes and cavities,
which reveal darkness within, yet there
is a playfulness and an exuberance in
fanciful protuberances that belie
brooding or melancholia. In fact, there
is a wonderful level of mischievousness
and secrecy especially when he plays
with smaller forms set within larger
forms that look suspended in air.
Kuo brings a fresh inventiveness to the
art form by often adding the element of
wood. Mixing media, particularly wood,
is a difficult and complex technique
seldom successfully conceived or
executed. Coaxing wood to behave in as
malleable a manner as clay takes special
skill and we are again reminded of his
mastery of materials and willingness to
spend hours getting it right. But the
wood lends a special softness and human
element to the ceramic edges while also
adding content and meaning. The wood is
warm, soft, alluring and strategically
positioned for maximum effect. We marvel
at how well wood and clay blend…again,
seamlessly.
Whether sitting boldly on the floor or
suspended like a painting, Kuo's forms
are precisely controlled, powerful
manipulations about the human spirit. He
integrates thousands of practiced and
cultivated strokes onto layer upon layer
of clay coils, controlling shape,
controlling form to end with profound
philosophical, intrinsically felt
sculptures.
Currently, Kuo lives and works in New
York City, teaching ceramic art at New
York University.
MOCA/NY is a tax-exempt
503(c)(3) educational organization
devoted to the collection,
exhibition, study, and appreciation
of ceramics from ancient traditions
to space age technology.
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