Pi-Lin Liu Solo Exhibition
Curatorial Statement
The omnipresence of time is a fundamental condition for the existence of all things and the growth of life. Our attention to clocks, as well as our measurement of distant time through astronomy and geology, reflects a persistent desire to grasp its presence. Yet time itself remains invisible, flowing mysteriously and profoundly through different forms of life.
The Circle of Time brings together photographs created by Pi-Lin Liu over many years and across different parts of the world, from the islands of Taiwan to the icebergs of Antarctica. The works trace the coexistence of species, geological strata, human-made objects, and the environment. Each photograph moves beyond the divisions of time zones, numbers, and coordinates, forming a continuous loop like a Möbius strip—appearing to have different sides while remaining interconnected.
Through photography, platinum printing, installation, and books, the exhibition brings personal ways of seeing, images, and material into the unfolding of time. It presents encounters between human beings and the world, exploring how photography reveals different states of life and matter while making visible the traces and forces of time itself.
Curator｜Hsu Chun-Yi
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This series regards massive icebergs as temporary sculptures formed by nature.
Presented through nine mounted photographs and arranged typologically, the works observe the monumental forms of ice while tracing a landscape continually transformed by time.
What appears solid and enduring is already changing, allowing the images to hold both the presence of these forms and the possibility of their disappearance.
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This series presents multiple islets in Taiwan’s Penghu Archipelago from an aerial perspective.
Through the juxtaposition of photographs, geographical distance and position are reorganized within the visual field, creating a view of the archipelago distinct from its actual geographic arrangement.
The shift in perspective allows familiar landscapes to be encountered through a different sense of scale, distance, and spatial relationship.
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This series observes geological landscapes through gradients, textures, folds, and traces formed upon their surfaces.
Small-format prints are used to reduce differences of scale, allowing distant landscapes and minute details to enter the same visual field.
Through this change of scale, the surfaces of the landscape become almost tactile, revealing traces through which time can be perceived.
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Developed in connection with the artist’s photobook The Road to Infiltration, this series follows the movement of water across different landscapes and environments.
Presented in varying sizes and through juxtaposition, the photographs bring natural terrain, ecological conditions, and traces of human activity into relation with one another.
Through these intersections, water becomes a connecting presence between landscape, life, and the continual transformations of the world.
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Life is not composed of isolated moments.
From approach and waiting to nurturing and departure, each moment flows into the next.
Through the life cycle of egrets, time becomes more than passage; it forms a rhythm through emergence, continuation, and disappearance.
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This mixed-media work brings photographs into relation with natural wood.
Through embedded and interwoven forms, the work considers how different species inhabit shared environments and depend upon relationships beyond themselves.
Photography and organic material coexist within the installation, revealing the tensions, connections, and energies that emerge between different forms of life.
Exhibition Information
The Circle of Time — Pi-Lin Liu Solo Exhibition
Curator｜Hsu Chun-Yi
Exhibition Dates｜December 7, 2024 – January 19, 2025
Opening Hours｜Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Opening Event｜Tea Reception & Book Launch, December 7, 2024, 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Exhibition Venue｜WhiteCrow78
Exhibition Address｜Lane 13, No. 8, Lishui Street, Da’an District, Taipei