夏愛華 Hsia Aihua | 轉身之藝 The Art of Transformation

夏愛華

HSIA Aihua

1973年生於臺北。於國立臺灣藝術學院與沖繩縣立藝術大學學習雕塑。2010年秋在紐約ISCP駐村期間，她首次感受到在極度壓力及憤怒下，身體內的「什麼」一直膨脹，甚至讓人失去意識。當時遇見的醫生告訴她身體其實很健康，只是心靈失去了原本位置，要回到能治癒自己心靈的地方才能痊癒。

一年後回到亞洲，想著臺灣的山與沖繩的海，她製作了《癒之境》。動物形狀象徵人受到壓力或憤怒，膨脹且失去光澤外表，要在「癒之境」才能恢復原貌，背上坐著的精靈正在治療他們，周邊環境像山裡的青苔也像海上島嶼，是人潛意識裡能在自然中獲得療癒的心理。

「活脫乾漆」是古代製作佛像的技法。天然生漆與麻布層層堆疊出乾漆形體，過程像在修煉心性，乾漆造出的空間就像內在宇宙也像人的潛意識，佛像會在內部放入一件小的本尊，更像人潛意識中的真我，她以這樣的材質與技法表現集體潛意識的世界。

Born in 1973, Taipei, Hsia studied sculpture at National Taiwan College (university today) of Arts and Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts. During her residency at ISCP in New York 2010, Hsia sensed "something" was blowing up from the tremendous pressure and anger she felt, which almost rendered her unconscious. She was in fact healthy, as told by a doctor. It was her mind that was misplaced. To become well, she needed to return to a place where the mind can heal.

A year later, upon returning to Aisa, Hsia created the "A Convalescence Realm" series with the mountains of Taiwan and ocean of Okinawa in her mind. Animal figures in the series symbolize the pressure or anger people feel, while their blown-up shapes indicate the loss of radiance. Only in "A Convalescence Realm" can these animals restore to their original state, with the spirits on the backs healing them. The moss-laden footholds are akin to those in the mountains as well as sea islands, which have therapeutic effects on people's subconsciousness.

"Hollow dry lacquer" is a technique for making Buddha statues in ancient times. The process of layers of natural lacquer and linen taking shape is like a person practicing asceticism, and the space between these layers of dried lacquer is similar to our inner universe and subconsciousness. The real entity enclosed within each Buddha statue represents the true self in people's unconsciousness. Hsia used such media and techniques to exhibit the world of collective unconsciousness.