Visual Haiku No.23 (Milk Lake) - Limited Edition 1 of 125 Photograph

Statement: I spent 8 years in the Far East and most of the photographs used in these works are from that period. They represent research undertaken into Chinese and Japanese aesthetic principles and traditions of representation – both linguistic and visual - and explore the possibilities of cultural exchange in relation to such forms. Many of the photos were taken as part of a visual diary documenting and responding to the various cultures, practices and bodies of thought I encountered on journeys across the region, often by bicycle. They were taken with a Holga toy camera, usually on Kodak 120 T-Max film, and developed in Ilford DDX. The diptychs are entitled “Wordless Haiga”. Haiga is a form of Chinese, and later Japanese, art, in which painted images and calligraphically written poetry are combined into a single work. In a wordless Haiga, the poem consists entirely of the associations and allusions suggested by the images. These may be either conceptual or formal, and either harmonious or relatively contrasting. The viewer / reader decides, as the poems are open-ended and meditative, having floated free of words. The triptychs are entitled “Visual Haiku” as the format reflects the three-phrase structure of the Haiku form. The elements and principles of art translate the formal components of Haiku (Kigo, Kireji etc.) into the syntax of visual language - just as the syllables of Latin alphabets are used to translate the Haiku’s structure from Japanese “On” (phonetic units) into Western languages. Longer Polyptychs are generally simply entitled “Visual Poems”. Biography: Roland Buckingham-Hsiao is an artist and researcher based in the UK and Taiwan. His work investigates the boundaries of language – text/image, text/body and text/object relations - often via East-West cultural exchange. His creative practice is interdisciplinary but revolves around photography, calligraphy and poetry. He studied Fine Art and Art History in the UK and then Chinese art, Mandarin and Chinese calligraphy at University in Taiwan. He has exhibited artworks at many museums and galleries around the world including Tate Britain in London, UK and is currently engaged in practice-led research at the International Research Centre for Calligraphy, University of Sunderland, UK.