Chu Ling-Jung, born in Taipei in 2000, is an artist focused on feminism and consciousness. Her works often explore the unease in women’s body shaping and gender perception under a patriarchal society and present these themes through deliberate bodily transformations. Chu Ling-Jung ‘s creative forms are diverse, including performance art, video, and found objects. Through these mediums, she explores and presents the phenomena of the body in predetermined life events.

Chu Ling-Jung attempts to reflect on her own external heterogeneity through bodily performance and physical transformation. She believes that by establishing shared life experiences with the audience, the resonance created through the presentation of art appears to enable both herself and the viewers to mutually engage in each other’s sensory worlds. In her view, this sensory interpretation of art by the viewer is akin to achieving an enlightenment-like realization. She believes that the interweaving of human thoughts and the overlapping of life experiences in artistic expression represent her vision and ideals for the world of art.

Can you tell us about your background and how you started your artistic journey?

Before entering the art academy, I spent three years studying industrial design and one year studying fashion design. Therefore, during my artistic creation, my design background significantly influenced the way I compose my works. My exploration and passion for art began in my youth. However, like many Asian parents, my parents did not encourage me to pursue art, so I did not receive any formal artistic training as a child. At 18, I decided to pursue art as a lifelong path after a chance encounter with the paintings of Miwa Komatsu. Her works ignited in me a genuine desire to create art. After a month of reflection, I took time off from school and took the entrance exam for an art university. Once there, I realized that what the academy taught differed from my own understanding and ideals about art. Remaining in that environment caused me significant distress, and I grew increasingly uncertain about the true meaning of artistic expression. Ultimately, I withdrew from the academy and, through self-study, discovered what I truly wanted to create.

What are the main themes or concepts you explore in your work?

My work primarily centers on themes of feminism and consciousness. I believe that women’s physiological characteristics, viewed through the lens of gender essentialism, can prevent them from fully realizing their inherent abilities. This idea also applies to many legal policies in society that influence individual choices. By extending this line of essentialist thinking, I choose the body as my primary medium of creation, using it as a form of rebellion against such concepts. Conscious thinking can challenge our understanding of gender binaries and help us break away from existing notions about the body. The core of my creation has always been an exploration of self-reflection, or perhaps, an ongoing experiment and extension of thought aimed at completing my personal philosophy.

What is your creative process like? Do you follow a routine or work spontaneously?

Regular creation and improvisational creation represent two entirely different modes of thinking for me. Generally, I begin with a coherent conceptual framework for my work, then incorporate elements of improvisation. Purely improvisational creation, however, requires both a surge of emotional energy in the moment and the long-term buildup of thought to be truly unleashed. Such creations often continue evolving over time, as the metaphors they contain can be profoundly deep.

How do your personal experiences and identity influence your art?

Exploring my own existence has profoundly influenced my perspective on artistic creation. Whether it involves self-awareness or gender, these inquiries arise from questioning my very being. The interplay of ideas—or the interpretation of “truth” and text in theological writings—might serve as a personal path to enlightenment. For me, art embodies knowledge accessible through the senses, and the moment of acquiring that knowledge can become an extension of the artwork as a product of thought.

How has your artistic style evolved over time?

In fact, I do not adhere to a fixed creative format or technique. Each of my works follows its own logic and form. Essentially, my process is rooted in conceptual thinking, and I choose the medium or form based on whatever topic I wish to explore at the time.

What advice would you give to emerging artists trying to establish themselves?

An artist statement is often seen as the conceptual framework that stems from the issues an artist wishes to explore in depth. However, I believe that once you have identified the concept you want to delve into, the real focus should be on how to continually build upon that foundation, expanding and extending your creative thought process. Simply having a core idea does not guarantee it will sustain your artistic career indefinitely. Only by treating it as a minimal cornerstone and persistently discovering, experimenting, and broadening your thinking does it become truly vital.

What projects are you currently working on, and what can we expect from you in the future?

Regarding performance documentation, which often uses still photography to convey the concept of time, I want to experiment with a reverse-operational logic. By transforming these time-referential static images into moving ones, how can we go beyond the symbolic representation of time in a single frame and delve into a deeper exploration of its meaning?

Text & photo courtesy of Chu Ling-Jung

Website: https://chulingjung.myportfolio.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chu_lingjung/