When you gaze at a painting, what do you see? Is it the subject of the painting, or its composition? Do you see the materials it’s made of, or its colors? Besides these things, paintings can have sounds, textures, smells that seem real, or a conversation between the artist and the artwork.

“My Home, My Universe” lets us all have a look at Lodging, a painting from the Taipei Fine Arts Museum collection. This visual experience connects different perceptions, and serves as a springboard for a series of creative activities and games of the imagination, which turn into an experience that kids can go through personally.

The creation of Lodging arose from the exploration of home and the pursuit of a safe haven. The long creative process also spurred the artist to ponder the environments in which humans live. The painting’s fine, realistic brushstrokes show homes that are safe and warm, but they are also set apart from one another. It is a portrait, and something of a metaphor, of today’s society and our lives hemmed in by the pandemic.

Many times, the home is a sanctuary. For children, it is, as the philosopher Gaston Bachelard put it, “our corner of the world...our first universe.” Our home space encompasses life, feelings and memories. Founded on the sense of security that is nurtured there, children build a base from which they make contact with the outside world, a starting point for creating and imagining things.

Beginning with Lodging, “My Home, My Universe” invites you to enter into the image, open up your senses, listen to the painting, and develop your own thoughts and viewpoints about home.

Artists

Wei-Min Huang

Xia Xia

MīMī Lo