Women’s Transcendence：From Small Self to Big Self + MySelf

Artists｜Lee Tze-Fang, Wu Ma-Li, Eleng Luluan, Kuo Yu-Ping 
Date｜2021/8/10（Tue.）-2021/11/10（Wed.）
Venue｜Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Fine Arts

In this special exhibition, we intend to present the transcending journey of women’s sense of self through a collection of the representative artworks.

For a very long time in the past (before the 19th century, or we could refer to as “the ignorant period of women’s self-awareness”), women’s living territory had been mainly family or clan-oriented. Women who lived during this period often fully accepted the differences between social ranks and moral positions, and their sense of self was largely determined by the requirements and expectations toward female social roles in contemporary society and cultures. For instance, a gentle and tender wife, a virtuous mother, a well-behaved daughter…. Their self recognition and identities were formed and shaped by the internalization of outer forces and very often women were constrained in the private sphere of the household. We categorized it as the realization of the “small self”.

Upon the awakening of female consciousness, through nearly a century of development of social movements and ideological trends, women finally entitle to walk out of the small-self realization in the scope of family or clan. They consciously involve with society and freely participate in social events in all kinds of fields and levels. By doing so, women step into the fulfillment of “big self,” as we refer to it. Women’s social roles and action space reach out to an unprecedented expansion. They care about environments and even come out projects working cross over genders, cultures, and ethnic groups to optimize influence divergence; they also seek answers for personal life and tend to view their own life experiences in a macro-vision with the society as a medium. They challenge the existed social and cultural scheme with critical viewpoints and propose possible solutions to resolve social problems. 

In fact, the process of transforming from “small self” to “big self” can be considered as a process of consecutively self transcendence. Women’s self recognition and identity is no longer outer implantation, but rather an internal awakening, thinking, and taking the initiative. They choose to persuade the spiritual self in higher level, which is the so-called “true self” (Rogers, 1951). Therefore, in this special exhibition, we select four Taiwanese artists: Lee Tzu-Fang, Wu Ma-Li, Eleng Luluan, Kuo Yu-Ping and their artworks which represent significant symbolic meanings to initiate further thinking of this topic.

For more information, please check
https://www.shungye-art.org/show_now_detail.php?id=6https://www.facebook.com/TaiChingnung/