Echo
22 September 2023 – 11 November 2023
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Sébastien Bertrand is pleased to introduce the work of Han-Chiao (1978, Taiwan) on her first solo show at the gallery.
A selection of unique pieces, brought together for the exhibition, unfold throughout the gallery space like modern remnants of a distant past, souls reborn in clay. “Without the past, there is no future,” the artist says. Drawing her inspiration from prehistoric ceramics, ancient Greek pottery, Shang-dynasty, or Han-dynasty vessels, Han-Chiao dwells on the past and envisions her work as a continuity, a trajectory.
Her vessels start with basic, traditional, old-fashioned shapes. She uses the wheel to create symmetry, then she deforms and re-shapes them while the clay is still supple, bringing a touch of singularity to something profoundly classical. Siamese vases, carnivorous jars, sets of handles, sharp edges, peaks sticking up like shark teeth, drips of enamel: she adds a modern twist, producing unique pieces with subtle flaws.
Han-Chiao Strawberry heart, 2023, black stoneware, 41 x 41 x 50 cm, (image: Han-Chiao)
The texture is rough, aggressive-looking, contrasting with the vessels’ delicate, almost feminine form. Han-Chiao enjoys working with silhouettes, tall, robust, and well-curved. Her relationship with the material is intuitive and intimate: she gives herself fully to the craft, putting her gesture, her time, and her mind into every work. Ceramics enable her to reveal herself in a profound, authentic way, sharing vulnerability and emotional nakedness, but also embody a form of freedom, maturity, and self-fulfillment. Throughout her journey between roughness and elegance, Han-Chiao does not look for perfection but for character. Each piece holds its own fascination, its own individuality.
The exhibition also features a series of five prints, black and white photographs with a mysterious grain, in which the pieces are carefully staged. Having worked as a photographer in the fashion industry, Han-Chiao holds her photographic work a part of her global practice, making it an echo of her archaic-inspired ceramic production. Initially meant for archival purposes, these photos became their own platform for communication as their staging went far beyond the documental shot. The human figure – either in the nude or wearing a vaporous veil – creates a contrasting relationship between the rough material and the soft, vulnerable, naked body that is almost tangible. The resulting aesthetic is eerie, oddly poetic, and reminiscent of Surrealistic photography and artists such as Man Ray or Dora Maar.