"A thought-provoking experimental calligraphy work that seamlessly blends secular street vitality with sacred spiritual text through rich ink layers."
-------- Review from Future Art & Design Award
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Project description
This piece was born from a simple moment of curiosity—observing a signboard outside a local vegetarian noodle shop. Over the past century, traditional calligraphy has quietly transformed to meet modern life, sharpening into geometric, standardized shapes and merging with Arabic numerals to form the price lists we see today.
The work began as an open-minded experiment with ink. The heavy, raw characters in the foreground are drawn from street-side menu, capturing the quiet desires, appetite, and grounded rhythm of daily existence. At the centre, a vertical strip of geometric shapes cuts through layers of thick and pale ink, exploring a spontaneous dialogue between brush, ink, water, and paper. Out of a simple habit of thrift, the full text of the Heart Sutra was later layered over the background in fine, delicate script. What emerged unexpectedly was a feeling of pure, unscripted freedom.
Today, Traditional Chinese is read by only a few tens of million people—more than half in Taiwan—yet it remains the true key to ancient East Asian thought and sacred scriptures. By weaving the warmth of ordinary life into timeless text, this piece invites anyone, regardless of language, to feel the quiet emotion moving through the ink.