A-sun Wu is an internationally acclaimed artist who was born in rural Yilan, Taiwan. He gained a respectable career in education after studying at National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Arts and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, but traded stability for self-improvement. Wu began to travel, starting with the African continent, immersing himself in tribal aesthetics and finding inspiration in their vivid, totemic visual languages. Combining travel knowledge with his life experience from growing up in a farming community, Wu began to develop a distinctive artistic vocabulary.
His paintings and sculptures are characterized by a unique blend of primitivism. Wu excels at employing earthy hues like ochre, heavy strokes, and black outlines to depict the raw energy of nature, humanity’s connection with the environment, and the vigor of life. In this special exhibition for the Miaobei Arts Festival, titled “The Vitality of Austronesian Peoples,” Wu pays tribute to their island heritage and agrarian self-sufficiency with a carefully curated selection of art pieces and installations, including a grand new painting — his 500th creation — made from pale petrified wood and replete with Austronesian drum patterns.
Another inimitable installation features a larger-than-life centipede made from deconstructed metal hoes, the farming tool. Such artworks embody the unwavering Austronesian spirit, timeless Asian philosophies, and contemporary Western art motifs, reflecting Wu’s originality and his deep affection for humanity and the land that nurtures all life.