EXHIBITION: CHARWEI TSAI

Pulling out the fridge crisper drawer is like a trip to the art supply store for Charwei Tsai. Her canvases include ice, tofu, lotus leaves, mushrooms – but the end result has got nothing to do with preservation and everything to do with acknowledging that in the end, everything perishes. “Our environment is constantly changing and so to be attached to a certain state causes unnecessary suffering,” says Tsai. It’s a decidedly Buddhist sentiment, visually reinforced with the spider-like coat of calligraphy covering her objects. “The scripture is always the same one I memorised as a child [in Taiwan] but the meaning has changed – before it was based on recitation … because I was scared and I had no life experience. Now it has evolved, it has a meaning of politics and nature.” It’s an interstices, along with that of visual and textual, that Tsai frequently inhabits. “The specific materials depend on the site. The Lotus Mantra was for the Singapore Biennale for a local Buddhist temple.” The lotus is a symbol of purity and it was abundant in that area – but Tsai did not shy away from its inherent lifespan, letting the flowers decay, a slightly controversial distinction for temple-goers used to fresh offerings. But, rewardingly, they warmed to the idea. In Sydney she went to the coast and filmed herself inscribing the Heart Sutra onto a mirror reflecting the coast – the ultimate testament to flux and impermanence. “Text is a representation of human civilisation, so it’s a play with culture and nature. Sometimes they work together and sometimes they are in conflict.” Visually, there is actually a deceptive harmony in Tsai’s works, and a freshness expected of simple ingredients, used well.

Oct 23-Dec 19, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, 16-20 Goodhope St, Paddington, 9331 1112,  sherman-scaf.org.au