Feature
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I MAY 2019 35
An artist abroad subsidy from the
Asian Cultural Council allowed Hsu
to pivot to a career as a full-time
artist and relocate to New York City,
where he now lives with his wife and
three children. He’s since made a
name for himself both locally and
internationally.
Hsu was commissioned by the
Department of Transportation (DOT)
and the International Studio and
Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New
York City to create his acclaimed
sculpture, “Monkey Magic.” The
anime-inspired sculpture made a
temporary appearance from July
2013 to March 2014. It was dis-played
on Ninth Ave. and 36 St
Manhattan, N.Y. Hsu’s goal was to
make the sculpture look like mon-key’s
hanging and waving “hi” to the
people walking by.
According to “Asian in NY,” a blog
about leaders in Asian networking
and multicultural entertainment, the
sculpture was a big success. The
blog noted: “Wendy Feuer, assistant
commissioner of urban design and art
at the DOT and Dennis Elliot, direc-tor
and founder of the ISCP are very
selective about the arts displayed in
public. Hsu’s ‘Monkey Magic’ has at-tracted
many passersby, especially
during the peak hours of New York
City in the morning where people
are traveling on foot or cycling in
the bike lane.”
Hsu also collaborated with three
other artists on a public art sculp-ture
that was rated, “New York’s 10
Best Public Art Installations for Fall
2015” by Artnet News. The sculpture,
named “The Moment,” was organized
by the Museum of Contemporary Art,
Taipei and the Taiwanese American
Arts Council as part of the “Art in the
Park” program. Inspired by Buddha
and made from materials such as
fiberglass, bamboo and feathers, the
sculpture was displayed in Flushing
Meadows’ Corona Park in Queens
from September through November
2015.
Hsu’s impact on the art world ex-tends
well beyond New York, having
been a part of 11 solo exhibitions
and 59 group exhibitions in Los
Angeles, Hong Kong, Japan and
elsewhere. One of Hsu’s projects
entitled, “Pocono Bud,” was a 350
x 200 x 200-centimeter sculpture
built of stainless steel and automo-tive
paint that sold for $90,000 in
Australia. The sculpture reflected a
lively plant that contrasted with the
serene ocean.
Over the years, Hsu’s success
granted him many other commissions
along with awards. Hsu received the
National Culture and Arts Founda-tion
Creative Subsidy, as well as the
Asian Cultural Council Artist Abroad
Subsidy. He also received the Taoyuan
First Place Creative Award and the
Honorable Selected Taipei Fine Art
Award.
Hsu is working on two new
projects. One involves installing a
sculpture in an airport in Taiwan. The
sculpture will depict a collection of
colorful suitcases with detailed paint-ings
imprinted on them. He is also in
the midst of creating a sculpture in a
swimming and diving arena in Taiwan.
His goal is to have the sculpture re-semble
“the moment a diver splashes
into the water.” He has been working
on this project for about six months
and has been traveling back and forth
from New York to Taiwan.
Hsu’s artwork can take anywhere
from four months to a year to com-plete.
The process is not like a regular
9-to-5 job.
“It’s not an easy process, especial-ly
with public art projects,” Hsu said.
“It’s a group effort. I need to create
a plan and a proposal, then a pre-sentation
to have my idea approved.
Once my proposal gets accepted,
there are people who transition my
designs into a computer, which then
go into a factory so we start to build
the shape.”
In his spare time, Hsu utilizes
his experience and success to
support other international artists.
Non-profit organizations ask Hsu
to help new artists by donating his
artwork and assisting them with
their projects.
“No one helped me when I started
out so I try my best to help new art-ists
with organization and design,”
he said. “My advice for anyone think-ing
about becoming an artist is that
they need to really enjoy it and work
very hard, everything else will come
naturally.”
Despite his international fame,
Hsu’s wife Iyan Li said he is shy.
But, she adds, his art speaks volumes
for him.
“I love his work because it’s very
unique and it looks like colors ex-ploding
in outer space,” said Li, who
assists Hsu with most of the paper-work
and financial aspect of the art
process so he can focus more on
his art. “His art is for everyone. He
is very funny and smart and you can
see that through his work.”
Abroad
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