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TAIWANESE ARTIST FROM SUNNYSIDE CREATES
NOTABLE ARTWORK AROUND THE WORLD
BY LOIZA HUERTA
Tang-Wei Hsu’s artworks
have been described as
“colors exploding in outer
space.” The versatile Tai-wanese
artist is certainly making a
bang in the art world.
The 39-year-old Sunnyside resi-dent
has been commissioned by New
York City officials to create public
sculptures locally and he’s held exhibi-tions
around the world, selling some
works for nearly six figures.
“Contemporary art with a mix of
animation and graphic design” is how
Hsu categorizes his artwork, which
includes drawings, paintings and
sculptures. By combining his Asian
culture with his architectural train-ing,
he is able to create complex and
abstract artworks.
Hsu’s artistic pursuits began in
his native Taiwan at age 10 when
he took up drawing. His artistic ideas
emerged from his cultural heritage
and childhood experiences.
“There is great Japanese influ-ence
in Taiwan. Growing up, anime
and Japanese comics like Pokémon
were a big part of my childhood,” Hsu
explained. “… and I wasn’t a city kid. I
grew up in the countryside, so I think
that’s where my imagination started
to run wild.”
Hsu initially believed architecture
would be a good outlet for express-ing
his creative talents. After obtain-ing
a bachelor’s degree in architec-ture
at the Shih Chien University
and an MFA in visual arts at the
Tainan National University of Arts,
Hsu went to work as an architect.
But, during his first project, he felt
as if the architectural process didn’t
allow him to express his creativity to
the fullest extent.
“When you join the architecture
environment, you can either work for
a company or in an office space. You
can’t really design much. It’s quite
boring,” Hsu said, laughing. “I knew I
had a special set of skills and I wanted
to create so much more.”
34 MAY 2019 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
Art
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