Roland Buckingham-Hsiao

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...

University of the Creative Arts (Canterbury, UK)
University of Ulster (Belfast, UK)
Open University (Milton Keynes, UK)
University of Nottingham (UK)
Taichung National University of Education (Taiwan)
University of Sunderland (UK)

“Wolverhampton Photo Festival” (group show), NEWHAMPTON ART CENTRE, Wolverhampton, U.K. 7th – 9th July 2017

“Communal Calligraphy” (participatory performance) in “On the tip of my tongue” (group show), BATH FRINGE FESTIVAL, Bath, U.K. 10th June 2017

“The Seagull’s Dream” (collaborative performance with Elaine Hickman-Luter and Hannah Wildwood) ARENA THEATRE, Wolverhampton, U.K. 2nd May 2017

“Asemic Tech” (group show), PUNT MULTIMEDIA, Barcelona, Spain. 28th Feb – 14th March 2017

“Collaborative Calligraphy” (performance piece with Chou, Cheng-Yu), HEI BAI QIE ART SPACE, Taichung, Taiwan. 23rd – 24th April 2016.

“Collaborative Calligraphy” (exhibition of performance work), NAMI ART SPACE, Taichung, Taiwan. 25th April – 25th May 2016 and WOLVERHAMPTON SCHOOL OF ART, U.K. 15th Oct – 31st Oct 2016

“Calligraphy” (group show), CONFUCIUS TEMPLE, Taichung, Taiwan. 4th March – 2nd May 2016

“Holga, Out of the Box” (group show), TCC PHOTO GALLERY, Longview, Texas, USA. 2nd Oct 2014 – 14th Nov 2014

“7 Billionth Person” (group show) THE PARACHUTE FACTORY, New Haven, USA. 23rd Sept 2010 – 31st Jan 2011

“Art = Life” (group show), AVART GALLERY (Association of the Visual Arts in Taiwan), Taipei, Taiwan. 4th July – 25th J...