Kwai1 鬹

CHAO Harn Kae’s new series ‘鬹kwai’ are realistic in details, but abstract and even a bit grotesque in whole. His works are inspired by the culture of the Neolithic Age in China, namely Yangshao Culture, Longshan Culture and Hongshan Culture as well as their unearthed pottery. The ancient pottery, kwai* is very distinct and unique, such as its tripod, slightly plump body, studs used to reinforce thebody, and the upturned spout and geometric or animal patterns of the terracotta wine jugs, etc.

By utilizing the characteristics of ancient kwai as an element, Chao Harn Kae proposed a philosophy of integrating cultural heritage and contemporary art through the language of space, balance and color, adding a touch of surrealism to the long history of pottery.

*鬹 [pronunciation: kwai1], one of the typical utensils of Longshan Culture in Shandong, are exquisitely shaped utensils which comes in two types: the ones standing on a solid tripod and the ones with three hollow plump legs.

The solid-tripod one consists of a spout and a body on a solid conical tripod, whereas the hollow-leg one has three large hollow legs as its body.The flat-bottomed kwai that appeared in the late stage of Longshan Culture came from the three-legged kwai. The origin of wine pots, jars and ewers in later generations can also trace back to this.

曹涵凱 (CHAO HARN KAE) 此次新系列作品所呈現的形象，觀其細節，是寫實的，但從整體上看又極為抽象，甚至散發著些少怪誕玩味氣質。作品的創作靈感來自中國新石器時代極具代表性的文化遺址——仰韶文化、龍山文化和紅山文化及其出土的陶器。古老陶鬹*個性鮮明，別具一格，例如鬹身下的三足支撐、微微鼓起的腹部、用於加固器身的乳釘、紅陶酒壺前方上仰的流口及幾何圖型、動物型花紋圖案等。

以古老陶鬹的形態特徵作為元素，曹涵凱通過用於空間、平衡和色彩的語言，提出一個由文化傳承與當代藝術融合的思考角度，為源遠流長的陶器刷上一抹超現實主義意象的色彩。

*鬹[讀音:kwai1] 是山東龍山文化的典型器之一，是一種造型精巧的器物。陶鬹有實足和袋足之別，實足鬹一般由流、腹和三個圓錐狀實足組成，袋足鬹則以三個大袋足為腹。龍山文化晚期出現的平底鬹就是由泥質三足鬹發展而來。後世的酒注子、酒執壺等注酒器亦溯源於此。