謝貽娟文化藝術基金會

Practice and Practice With Lii Jiin Shiow and Jo Hsieh centers on two Chiayi-born women artists—Lii Jiin Shiow (1953–2003) and Jo Hsieh (1967–2017). Through a spectrum of works—including finished pieces, daily studies, experimental projects, and teaching materials—the exhibition examines their reflections on art, selfhood, and relationships. Complementing these are site-based projects and field research by three contemporary artists—Tsai Chih-Hsieh, Kang Ya-Chu, and Wang Yi-Ting—which spark an intergenerational dialogue and reawaken the artistic and personal legacies of these Chiayi artists.

Since the 1990s, institutions have increasingly recognized women’s art. More recently, museums have moved beyond mere visibility to explore the complex identities and social roles of women artists, shaping exhibitions from fresh perspectives. In this context, Chiayi Art Museum offers this show both as tribute and as critical intervention: reflecting on how two women, despite shortened lifespans, generated lasting creative energy, and reconsidering gendered frameworks in art history to expand and reframe them.

The exhibition builds on Lii Jiin Shiow’s established reputation by highlighting her elegant integration of calligraphic line into visual form, alongside her deep commitment to children’s education and community engagement. In contrast, Jo Hsieh’s practice is presented as a rigorous act of self-formation: her extensive self-portraiture, sketchbooks, and mixed-media experiments articulate dialogues between identity and space.

The title Practice and Practice underscores both “practice” as disciplined repetition and “practice” as embodied engagement. Rather than a static display, the exhibition emphasizes iterative processes of making and thinking, extending from the studio into the viewer’s experience to form a “third space” of encounter.

Organized into three sections—“I and We,” “Addition and Subtraction,” and “Beyond Boundaries”—the exhibition traces how life and art intertwine in each artist’s journey. Through these themes, visitors discover evolving, layered, and resonant dimensions of their practices, and feel the spirit and energy intrinsic to their ongoing acts of practice.