The eye is the first circle;
the horizon which it forms is the second;
and throughout nature this primary picture is repeated without end.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
TKG+ is pleased to propose The Eye is the First Circle, a solo project by Charwei TSAI (b. 1980, Taiwan) specially created for the Insights section of Art Basel in Hong Kong 2015. Inspired by American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Circles, the project is a montage of drawings, sketches, objects, and notes in contemplation of circular and spiral forms found abundantly in nature. Echoing the status quo in Hong Kong, the project also perpends sociopolitical ripples in a volatile society.
The project includes drawings and sketches where various forms of spiral were created with watercolor or ink on rice paper, and inscribed with the Buddhist scripture Heart Sutra. The texts gradually disperse in the outer sphere into the void pondering from the Buddhist concepts of emptiness and interdependence to an omnipresent awareness of the environment.
Drawing parallels between Buddhism and Sufism, Tsai discovers the spirals and circles produced by the spinning of the dervishes during the ritual dance of the Mevlevi Sema Ceremony. The dancing dervishes, immersed in their microcosms, create new worlds and make contact with eternity. From this microcosmic perspective, Tsai examines how human perception of time and space depends on nature’s revolving and repeating circular and spiral forms, from the simplicity of water ripples to the spectacle of the galaxy.
Highly personal yet universal concerns spur Tsai’s multi-medium practice. Geographical, social, and spiritual motifs inform her body of work, which encourages viewer participation outside the confines of complacent reflection, as she meditates on the complexities among cultural beliefs, metaphysical truths, and transience.
Tsai has exhibited internationally, including solo shows in Paris, Bogotá, Sydney, Tokyo, Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taipei, and in group exhibitions and biennials, such as Simple Shapes, Pompidou Center, Metz, France (2015); Fiac, Paris, France (2014); Sharjah Biennial and Dojima River Biennale (both in 2013); Phantoms of Asia, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (2012); Yokohama Triennale and Ruhrtriennale (both in 2011); the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial (2009); Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves, ZKM Center of Art and Media, Karlsruhe (2007); and the inaugural Singapore Biennale (2006).