你今年的旅途風景是甚麼？認識台灣插畫家「艸文子」是在市集之中，她的畫風簡單但精準，細膩又俐落，黑色墨筆配搭木顏色，只有兩、三種顏色，便能呈現「風光」、人物的神韻，風格結合了幾何圖案、線條、色塊，在台灣插畫界散發出特別的氣質。這次《小小的 雀躍的 感動》的「小雀動」風光，艸文子以一系列 12幅裱於約25乘13.8厘米的胡桃木框裡的插畫、文字，記錄2015-2018年的小感動。
畫中有不少植物及動物，我以為是有甚麼玄機、喜好，「沒有啦，我都是將當下眼前所看到的事物重組，加上一點自己的想法。畫出來像台北『小白兔唱片行』這一幅，唱片木架形狀蠻特殊的，像一隻獸，那就畫成兔子吧！我在台北『尖蚪』吃貓飯，就畫上一隻貓一起坐在階梯上，台中『本冊』的門口是真的有非常茂盛的植物，有如城市裡的一座綠洲。」我們很多時用手機記錄那些有一點點觸動到我們的畫面，讓那些畫面分享到全世界，前後花不到5分鐘；她卻重組眼前的風光，用筆尖記錄，多年後我們終於實體相見，溫度好像還能從紙張中感受得到。
How has your year been? I stumbled upon Taiwanese illustrator TsaoWenZee at a local fair. Her drawings are simple yet precise, delicate yet concise. Using only black ink and pencil colors, she employs a limited palette to capture the essence of the landscapes and characters she portrays. Her style, combining geometric patterns, lines, and blocks of color, holds a unique presence in the illustration scene in Taiwan. In her recent exhibition, Small, joyful delights, she presents a collection of 12 illustrations accompanied by text, each framed in walnut wood and measuring around 25 cm by 13.8 cm. The series documents the small delights she experienced between 2015 and 2018.
While plants and animals frequently make appearances in TsaoWenZee’s works, I wondered if there was a special purpose or a personal preference behind it. “Not at all,” she replied. “I simply draw what I see, with some rearrangement and a touch of my own thoughts. Take, for instance, the illustration of the White Wabbit Records in Taipei. The record shop has some uniquely-shaped shelves, resembling some kind of an animal, so I drew it as a rabbit! I also drew a cat sitting on the steps alongside me to recall the time when I had the signature CAT food at Tadpole Point Cafe in Taipei. Similarly, I included lots of green in the illustration of Book Site in Taichung because of the abundance of plants at their entrance, which is like a little oasis in the city.” While we often use our phones to quickly capture and share the fleeting moments of delight, TsaoWenZee, on the other hand, recreates each blissful encounter with her pen and paper. It took her five to eight years to finally be able to present her artwork to the world, and the warmth and essence of these moments seems to emanate from the drawing paper inside the frame.
這是一個「展出閱讀的系列」。一如艸文子的性格跟畫風，隨筆創作的畫和文字，簡潔地呈現，如果展場是一本立體書，我們走進這本書中，將會體現大量留白，留白的空間加上觀者也是一幅風景，定格裱框後，時空交疊，成為里程。「上一次個展是大學畢業時，我覺得那是一個里程碑，集結學生時期的作品展出，然後往下一個人生的階段。展覽似乎必須有足夠的作品份量和厚度，才有展出的必要性。」原來里程碑是要走這一段路，走到有時自己也忘記了那走過的風景時，回到一看，才「呀！原來已經到這裡了？」我想12幅《小小的 雀躍的 感動》中，有些店家的風景已經不一樣，但當被小小觸動的感覺卻陪伴走到現在，是一種堆疊的成長。
This exhibition invites you into the world of immersive reading. TsaoWenZee’s unique personality and artistic style shine through her drawings and accompanying text, presented with simplicity. If the exhibition was a three-dimensional book, stepping into this exhibition is like entering a realm of spaciousness, where the viewers themselves become part of the scenery. Once framed, the fleeting moments become milestones that are fixed in time and space. “The last solo exhibition I had was during my university graduation. It felt like a milestone, showcasing the works I created from my student years and signifying the beginning of the next stage of life. It seems that an exhibition must have sufficient quantity and depth of work to justify its existence.” It turns out that milestones are reached by walking a distance, reaching a point where we may forget the landscapes already traversed. Upon looking back, we’d exclaim, “Oh! I’ve already got to this point?” I believe that certain landscapes portrayed in these 12 illustrations might have changed, but the feeling once touched TsaoWenZee still exist and influence her growth.
「在市集常有客人看了看桌上的『雜貨』，問我『你是在做什麼的』。我的創作路線沒有定性，沒有單一繪風、沒有固定形式，短篇漫畫、小誌出版、即興繪像、土作各種廢廢小萌物、姓名印鑑設計做了很多，但沒有累積足夠份量和厚度的作品，這次展覽我放下了這個想法，單純希望『展出閱讀』。」嘗試許多，不需要放棄甚麼。「因為想好好的呈現自己少有的系列畫作，在準備展出和佈展期間，竟也慢慢梳理了一些在創作定位上的迷惘。」
「 因為有所感動而do something。」 原來那就是動力。
「那究竟是如何抓住那感動？」我想像如相機參數一樣，畫下那「小雀動」的快門，一定有甚麼秘訣！
「創作是一種狀態、一種決定要怎麼詮釋的態度。」在展場中她還親手結合了riso印刷、車縫、蓋印、拼貼和手寫製作了展卡，印章圖像是小雀動系列的第一幅，當時她正在蘭嶼，外面太熱，她窩在「小島生活」民宿看著窗外畫畫的風景，主觀的構圖和文字，像我們從她的角度走入那些在路上小小的、雀躍的感動。
「無論用什麼形式產出，然後在某一個軸線上與他人連結，就是創作的本質吧！」 如同我在擺攤時的招牌上寫道，提示客人「我在做什麼」，那就是「Illustration and everything else」。年末，就做些甚麼吧，用任何形式地產出，或那正是創作瞬間的小雀動。
“At the market, as customers browse through the assortment of items on my table, they often ask, ‘What do you do?’ My creative journey defies a singular style, form, or format. I’ve explored comics, zines, portrait painting, ceramics, and name stamp designs. While I may not have amassed a substantial body of work in terms of quantity or depth, I have let go of that thought. I simply want the exhibition to be open for reading.” Trying a variety of things doesn’t mean you have to give up on certain things. “As I sought to showcase this unique series of works, the process of preparing for and setting up the exhibition helped me gradually sort out some of the uncertainties I once had regarding my creative direction.”
“Do something because it moves you.” That, I realized, is the driving force.
I often imagine it to be akin to adjusting the parameters of a camera. There must be a secret to capturing the precise moment of small, joyful delight.”
“Creation process reflects one’s state of mind and signifies a deliberate choice in how one presents something to the world.” The exhibition cards are specifically handcrafted by TsaoWenZee combining elements of risograph printing, stitching, stamping, collaging, and handwriting. The stamp design is the first piece of the exhibition series. It gives a glimpse of time on Lanyu Island, seeking solace from the sweltering heat and nestling in the Lanyü Hostel, observing and making drawings of the scenery outside the window. The subjective composition and text seemingly inviting us to step into those small, joyful moments, through her eyes.
“Regardless of the form it takes, the essence of creation lies in forging connections along a particular axis, doesn’t it?” The sign at my booth also conveys my artistic pursuits: “Illustration and everything else.” As the year draws to an end, let us engage in the act of creation and embrace what might be the fleeting moment of small, joyful delight.
