Paradise Hell
22 Sept – 12 Oct 2023
Hirano Museum
Beppu, Japan
What is paradise? What is Hell? Chinese-Australian artist Tianli Zu answers these questions by bringing together new works inspired by the environment and customs of Beppu, Japan.
Based in Sydney, Australia, Zu has created works of papercuts, painting and video that envelope viewers in a site-specific installation to feel and contemplate how spiritual and the physical world around us interchange.
Paradise Hell is a seeming contradiction, yet a meditation on creativity, ecology, technology and contemporary art. Taking inspiration from first hand experience, Zu hand cut from plein-air drawing and transformed lines, movement, and the steamy weather into poetry and moving images.
Zu continues her investigation by looking at the ways in which nature and human beings interact. Paradise Hell is a transformative exhibition through investigation retelling story in new ways. Simultaneously, the exhibition offers viewers new ways of looking at the simple shapes and repetition to better understand, to shape our current moment. It activates viewers’ active listening sensation through imagery.
Zu’s solo exhibition is a part of Beppu Art Month 2023. A Japanese version catalogue is published for the exhibition.
Song of Jigoku and My Favourite Hell #1–12
2023
Installation, papercut by hand, water colour, washi paper
65 x 96 cm each, 12 units
In the hottest summer, I came to Beppu for a ten-day artist-in-residence. I lived in the Onsen area. Locals call it the steamy place. There are eight famous hells/Jigoku in Beppu.
On 18 July, Yoshihiro Hirano san, a Beppu expert and my host, guided me to the Tsukahara Onsen Kokomo Izumi, near a volcano’s steaming crater. I drew on-site with a 10-meter-long Japanese washi paper roll and ink.
The marks I made were a direct response to represent the movements of the fog generated by the hot spring and the accumulation of the customs I observed.
On 20 July, Hirano san guided me to a hidden paradise – Onbara Falls. ‘Fresh water is very precious for us because there are less and less. Onbara Falls provides the Beppu residences drinking water.’ He said.
After I returned to my residence at Yokoso Ryokan, I worked on the tatami. I first painted the drawing I made at the Tsukahara Onsen with an earthy colour, then I folded it into small pieces. I hand-cut about 800 plum blossom flowers. On the centre of each plum blossom flower, I cut a water symbol motif. It represents prosperity, hope, beauty, renewal, and vitality.
The installation constructed from the plum blossom flowers, transforms the exhibition space into an open-air bath. The empty space allows the hot air to travel.
Song of Jigoku depicts hot water gushing out from hell. The video ended with a scene of a paradise with hundreds and thousands of plum blossoms bursting to flowers from the waterfall.
Song of Jigoku
Video 8’30”
Flowing energy
2023
papercut by hand, water colour, water colour paper
30 x 42 cm each, 5 units
A study of Jigoku/Hell. In this drawing, I investigate the interconnections among hot spring, plants, nature and man-made onsen.
Hirano
2023
100% cotton paper, wash paper, watercolour, hand cut, and acrylic on linen
102 x 92 cm
My first encounter with Hirano san was in 1988 when he was on a cultural tour to Beijing, China. Hirano was interested in Chinese Avant-Garde art and acquired five of my artworks. In 2016, I visited Hirano in Beppu, Japan. Within the two-day visit, he showed me the best of his hometown. He introduced me to the godfather of Beppu tourism Kumahachi Aburaya. His passion was to carry on Aburaya’s mission to help his people and the city.
In June 2023, Hirano invited me to show at his museum during Beppu Art Month. As my art practice is experimental and site-specific, I decided to visit Beppu for the second time.
To prepare for my new adventure, I first went on a journey within. I collected my memories and perceptions and made a portrait of Hirano. The composition of the painting refers to Japanese comic books – 4 frame grid. In frame one, I composed his portrait with four-layer paper cut in Chinese mulberry and Japanese wash paper. Hirano worn a Beppu Onsen Aburaya kimono. He held forward his hand in motion of guiding tourists. I cut his motto ‘Grab a big dream with your big hand’ on the lantern. Frame two depicts the Hirano family bath in Onsen. Yoshihiro Hirano held both hands up as a welcome sign and his wife Reiko Hirano held her hands up to signify peace. The bottom 2 frames have a soft edge divided by a good fortune double fish, plants, and a fan. The mud Onsen connects to the mountains. Hirano was performing a folk dance on the street playing wood blocks surrounded by happy motifs such as sake, plants, sushi rolls, and music notes. The plants are the interconnected components of the Onsen because they make up the natural system of the hot spring creating a lot of these unique micro-habitats that allow very different species to live side by side. Hirano likes plum blossom because they signify ‘elegance, integrity, patience and fidelity’. A magpie brings a eucalyptus leaf announcing the good news that a visitor is coming from Australia.
After I told the story of Hirano in one cutout, I painted with peony red. Then, I stitched it onto a blue water painting. I gifted Hirano his portrait expressing my gratitude when I came for a ten-day artist-in-residence in July.
As a storyteller, the painting is embedded with a lot of details. The more you look at the same motifs and patterns, the more they take your imagination away and the better and playful you feel.