Rebirth
2020, the year in which the coronavirus attacked humanity.
Over thirty million confirmed cases and one million deaths… When the number of victims is so high that it’s impossible to count them all, how does one understand their pain? What kind of power would it take to live a “new life”?
As the pandemic continued, we found Mei Dai Zhuo through “WITHART”, an online initiative by artists.
Her works contain…”a powerful inner strength and the heart to bravely press onward without lingering in the past…”
We asked Mrs. Zhuo if we could visit her in Changhua. She readily agreed, then politely explained that she had to ask for a day off work in order to meet up. Only then did we realize, much to our surprise, that she was not a full-time artist.
It was a hot, midsummer afternoon; the traditional market had already closed as she led us on our stroll through the alley, laughing as she told her story… Born and raised in Anping, Tainan, and moved to Puxin, Changhua to start a family with her husband. Having grown up financially deprived, she chose to study business management at National Tainan Commercial Vocational Senior High School for its better job prospects, giving up her true interest in commercial design. She attended school during the day and worked part-time at a toy factory nearby at night. While working and studying at the same time to support her family financially, she was accepted into the night class of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at NCHU. Even after graduating, she continued juggling two jobs at the same time–equipped with her foreign language fluency, she worked in the international trade department at a hardware and furniture store during the day, and rushes to teach evening classes at a cram school after work.
The temperature of that scorching hot afternoon was 35℃. Nevertheless, Ms. Zhuo rode her motorcycle home and took us around the marketplace to taste rice oil scallion cakes and Hakka mochi. This is a place where she found comfort and relaxation. I observed her from behind as she chatted with the 80-year-old lady who ran a tailoring shop in the market. Her shirt was drenched in sweat, but she didn’t mind at all. Mei Dai Zhuo…the friendly neighbor lady with a jingling grocery cart, replaying the reels of her life story through the winding alley. Laughingly, she told us that she is 56 this year and that she would be able to pay off her mortgage within two years.
When she was little, her father gaved her a sketchbook that opened a window for her. She often ponder this as she stared out the window, wondering if, by any chance, she would ever become an artist. The window remained tightly shut for forty years because she had to make ends meet, and wasn’t until six years ago that it finally opened. Although she’s still working in the daytime and has family to take care of at night, she carved out time bit by bit and started with self-portraits, unveiling the start of something magical. In her words, she has been crazy in the world of art for the past six years, and there’s nothing that can stop her!
In the brief years since learning to draw, she has risen from novice to full-fledged award-winning artist taking part in all major exhibitions starting in 2018, including National Oil Painting Exhibitions, Tainan Art Exhibition, exhibitions held by Central Taiwan Fine Arts Association, Huang Si Art Exhibition, and the Tai-Yang Art Exhibition, living the slashie lifestyle at the ripe young age of 50.
No matter how hard life on earth can seem, flowers will emerge, prosper, and blossom. With no one to sow the seeds, remove weeds or water the soil, with great tenacity and perseverance, she bid her time to bud after lying buried in the soil for over four long decades…
Eagerly pushing away the dirt, this beautiful flower ultimately emerged and burst into bloom!

Kai-Hsing Huang has a reserved and calm appearance but is actually a bold and creative artist with a penetrating vision and experimental spirit. She boldly experiments with different materials and media in her creative work and enriches her art with literary and philosophical allusions. Observers are quickly drawn into her paintings which convey a sense of doubt, comfort, gravity, fantasy, mystery, and violent forces of nature, exhibiting the passionate energy and imagination of a young artist. Her fresh and pure style in art is undoubtedly a heart-purifying medicine for the viewer. Following the display of her art and the accumulation of rich experience, her works will integrate a deeper and more mature meaning. We firmly believe that the publication will give viewers a keen awareness of artist Kai-Hsing Huang’s inherent potential. (Quotation from 99° Art center)
Abstract painting is the main context and characteristics of Kai’s works. Currently, oil, acrylic color painting on canvas works, Chinese ink painting, and paper works are her main art medium.

Tuning…: if I really needed to define my work, I would sum it up with the following three phrases: Acentered harmony, intangible sweet and creative unity. I see my artwork as a distillation of my senses and thoughts. The intangible and tangible aspects of my life and the way in which I live are central to my process. Whether it be fragments of reality or fantasy, my muse can come from the senses or sensitivity, a teaching, relationships in between, speculation, a series of movements, every touch embedded in my mind, thoughts, day-to-day inspiration, a sum of words like verse, issue or a touch of anticipation… etc., all perceptions and understandings remain in my head, waiting for a chance to be released. Following careful operation in my mind, these ideas will distill into clear forms or an authoring of kinetic energy, both in a natural manner. In turn, this forces me to realize them via all kinds of media, allowing the creative conversion to unfold before me. Thereupon, I can see a truly harmonious state in my own consciousness.
(By Kai-Hsing Huang)