Abstract

The topic of the thesis is Invisible, Shell and Clothes－A Discourse on Huang, Hsiao-Shan's Work of Art. It is an extensive study on the author’s works of art. ‘Invisible’, ‘shell’ and ‘clothes’ have their interpretations on space, material and form separately. ‘Invisible’ symbolizes the space detaching from the body. Secondly, ‘shell’ is the form made by metals such as iron and red bronze. Thirdly, ‘clothes’ indicates that clothes are the major form and aesthetic thinking of the author’s works of art. In other words, clothes are outer forms. They are metal plates which wrap up the invisible body and create a ‘shell’. This makes it look like an invisible women who wears a dress.

However, ‘invisible, shell and clothes’ have a further meaning. One of the series is in flamboyant style. In this series, ‘invisible, shell and clothes’ is used to show that modern people rely too much on material life to create their own selves. In this way, invisible, shell and clothes may have different interpretations according to personal thoughts and social values. It could either be fetters that shackle oneself or armors full of one’s confidence and spiritual energy. Yet, as for the other series, the author collected her own old clothes and recreated them into this series of artworks. It is used to show how the author achieves transformation in her body and soul. At last, the whole paper emphasizes on the artist’s labor and handiwork. The process of keeping forging metal is similar to that of religious practice. The author puts great amount of time and energy into her works of art ‘invisible, shell and clothes’. In other words, the artworks have already become part of the author’s body and an extension of her soul. In this way, ‘invisible, shell and clothes’ may show its rarity in age and humanistic spirit.

Key words: invisible, shell, clothes, forge, labor, humanism