Ceng Ming-Nan - House of Craftsmanship Introduction
"All day without studying, just doing these clay figures, are you planning to rely on them to make a living in the future?" The mother, rushing to cook, scolded when she saw the entire stove filled with Tseng Ming-nan's "mud sculpture works." Unexpectedly, her words came true. After various jobs, Tseng Ming-nan eventually chose pottery as his lifelong career. Wang'an Island in Penghu has beautiful stone weirs and rare green sea turtles. From the summit of Tiantai Mountain, one can gaze at the azure coastline. When the sun sets, sitting at Huazhai to watch the sunset, the sunlight spills down a wide golden path, stretching all the way to the horizon, captivatingly tempting one to follow that golden road towards the setting sun. This is the beauty of Wang'an that the writer experiences as a traveler. However, for Tseng Ming-nan, born in Wang'an, his birthplace seems like a destiny, where women farm and men fish at sea, which appears to be a hereditary norm. Children in Wang'an usually have to leave their hometown to study in Magong when they are in elementary school. Leaving the nest without fully growing wings means loneliness and helplessness for a seven-year-old child. Thus, many children cannot help but feel homesick and drop out of school, and Tseng Ming-nan was no exception. "When I was in the third grade, I took a two-year break from school to work as a cowherd, sometimes fishing with my father or farming with my mother." At twelve, Tseng Ming-nan took a boat to Kaohsiung with his mother, where he saw the splendor of the city and the world beyond Wang'an. "In the past, Penghu only had kerosene lamps at night. I was so excited to see electric lights for the first time, raising my hand to count the street lamps. I also saw cars, trains, wide roads, and large ships... it felt like I had landed on the moon, so shocking!" Tseng Ming-nan recalls his feelings over fifty years ago, still excited as he speaks. Knowing about the outside world, Tseng Ming-nan no longer worked as a herder. He realized that only through studying could he escape his fate. He loved labor classes since childhood and intended to apply for the art department in the university entrance exams, but did not succeed. He then shifted to the Army Management School (the predecessor of the National Defense Management College). After military service, the National Taiwan University of Arts established a night program, allowing Tseng Ming-nan to finally return to the world of art. More than ten years later, he furthered his studies in the UK, obtaining a master's degree in art. Tseng Ming-nan knows it is incredibly difficult to compete with ancient masters. Therefore, at the beginning of his creation, he deeply studied Chinese ceramics, starting from tradition, based on the Han and Tang dynasties, and finding rare elements within tradition. He spent a considerable amount of time and money and eventually innovated a bright red iron red glaze, creating a unique personal style. "Dingzhou Flower Porcelain Carved Red Jade" is the term used by the great Chinese writer Su Dongpo to praise iron red glaze. Tseng Ming-nan's "Iron Red Jar" showcases a vibrant red that gradually unfolds into pale yellow and white, with cursive writing on the white parts, presenting cicada wing-like fine network cracks and luster, embodying the fusion of classical and modern styles. "Traces of Time" employs glaze coloring techniques and kiln firing conditions to create textures of corrosion, conveying the traces of time with mottled expressions. "Lady" is another work that expresses cursive lines in ceramics. The figure of the woman with her head lowered embodies the gentle modesty of Chinese women, with fluid lines and the removal of figurative elements, simply shaping the grace of ancient women. The entire piece embodies the tranquility and stillness of Zen. The characteristics of pottery from the Han and Tang dynasties are "thick and powerful," with a balance of rigidity and softness. Therefore, Tseng Ming-nan's "Sapphire Glaze Bottle" also carries the ancient style in its form, displaying a rich, rustic air in solid blue that transitions to rust red and sapphire blue, with a gradient of colors reflecting crystalline patterns, emanating a brilliance reminiscent of sapphires. Science, technology, and art are the three elements of ceramics. Tseng Ming-nan states: the glaze formula can be calculated with formulas, but the kiln's temperature, firing time, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, and thickness of the glaze must all be mastered to exhibit the art of creation. His work "Chicken" features the head of the chicken in iron red glaze, while the back uses a white jade-like celadon, and the belly highlights the natural beauty of earth with a stone-like texture. A single piece displays three different tones and textures at once; Tseng Ming-nan undoubtedly excels in his techniques and use of glazes and creativity. The Taiwanese pronunciation of "chicken" is "jia," and the process of leaving home at a young age for education has allowed Tseng Ming-nan to appreciate the value of "home." "Family ethics are an inherent tradition of China, and they carry cultural connotations." Additionally, Tseng Ming-nan once asked his mother for a dog as a pet, but she replied, "If we have nothing to eat, what will the dog eat?" So, he settled for a chick as a pet. Thus, chickens have become regulars in his works. "Family Portrait" depicts a rooster and hen with three chicks, with Tseng Ming-nan presenting the rock-like texture in a hand-molded manner, highlighting the beauty of simplicity in earth. In the 1990s, Tseng Ming-nan focused on creating ceramic plates, using copper as a color developer to produce rich colors like red, blue, purple, and green in reduction firing. For example, "Figures" is created using sapphire glaze as paint on ceramic plates, extending ink wash styles with calligraphic brush strokes. In the piece, the lines of the calligraphy convey the facial features of the figures, while the background is fired to create an ink-splash landscape effect. The purple and white color on the face enhances the mysterious atmosphere of the woman. Once lacking a compass to guide his direction and relying on experience and the courage of fishermen, following his father to fish in the vast ocean enhanced Tseng Ming-nan's confidence in self-challenge. For his ceramic works born of "natural talents," Tseng Ming-nan hopes that one day he will make a name for himself in the art world. (Text and images from the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute)"
