Tseng Ming-nan Craft House Introduction
"Studying all day and just making these clay figurines, do you plan to rely on them for your living in the future?" The mother, who was in a hurry to cook, was furious when she saw the stove filled with Tseng Ming-nan's 'clay sculpture works'. Unexpectedly, her words turned out to be prophetic. After holding various jobs, Tseng Ming-nan eventually chose ceramics as his lifelong career. Penghu's Wang-An Island boasts beautiful stone weirs and rare green sea turtles. From Tientai Mountain, one can overlook the azure coastline. As the sun sets, sitting at Huazhai to watch the sunset, the sunlight casts a wide golden path, stretching to the horizon, mesmerizing one into wanting to run along that golden road toward the sunset. This is the beauty I experienced as a traveler visiting Wang-An. However, for Tseng Ming-nan, who was born in Wang-An, his birthplace seems to be a fate; women farm while men fish at sea, as if it were a hereditary obligation. When Wang-An children enter elementary school, most must leave home and go to Magong to study. Leaving the nest before being fully grown means facing profound loneliness and helplessness for a seven-year-old child. Therefore, many children cannot resist the homesickness and drop out of school, and Tseng Ming-nan was no exception. "I dropped out of school in the third grade and worked as a cowherd for two years, sometimes fishing with my father or farming with my mother." At the age of twelve, Tseng Ming-nan traveled with his mother by boat to Kaohsiung, where he witnessed the splendor of the city and the world beyond Wang-An. "In the past, Penghu was lit by kerosene lamps at night; the first time I saw electric lights, I was so excited that I raised my hand to count the streetlights, and I also saw cars, trains, wide roads, and large ships... it felt as if I had landed on the moon, truly shocking!" Tseng Ming-nan recalls his feelings from over fifty years ago with excitement. Knowing about the outside world, Tseng Ming-nan no longer wanted to be a cowherd; he realized that education was the only way to escape his fate. Having loved hands-on classes since childhood, his university entrance exam aspiration was to study in the art department, but he did not realize it. Instead, he attended the Army Management School (the predecessor of National Defense Management College). After serving in the military, coincidentally, the National Arts School (now National Taiwan University of Arts) established its night classes. This time, Tseng Ming-nan finally got his wish and returned to the realm of art. More than a decade later, he went to the UK to earn a master's degree in art. Tseng Ming-nan is very aware of the immense challenge of competing with ancient artists. Therefore, at the beginning of his creative journey, he delved into the study of Chinese ceramics, starting from tradition, rooted in the Han and Tang dynasties, and sought out rare elements from tradition. After spending considerable time and money, he finally innovated a bright red iron-red glaze, creating a distinctive personal style. "Dinzhou flower porcelain carving red jade" is the praise given to iron-red glaze by the great Chinese writer Su Dongpo. Tseng Ming-nan's "Iron Red Jar" exhibits a bright red, gradually spreading into pale yellow and white, with cursive writing on the white surface, presenting small net-like cracks like cicada wings and a luster, showcasing a blend of the classical and modern. "Traces of Time" employs glazing techniques and kiln firing conditions to create a texture that conveys the marks of time through mottled designs. "Lady" is another piece that showcases cursive lines in ceramics. The bowed head of the woman embodies the gentle shyness characteristic of Chinese women, with smooth lines, stripped of figurative details, simply forming the elegance of ancient women. The overall work embodies a serene and tranquil Zen atmosphere. The characteristics of pottery from the Han and Tang dynasties are "thick and strong," "balancing hardness and softness." Thus, Tseng Ming-nan's "Sapphire Glazed Bottle" also retains an ancient style, displaying a thick and rustic atmosphere, with a stable blue developing into rust red and sapphire blue, the gradient colors revealing crystalline patterns, exuding a brilliance akin to sapphire. Science, technology, and art are the three elements of ceramics. Tseng Ming-nan states: glaze formulas can be calculated using equations, but the temperature of the kiln, the firing time, the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide, and the thickness of the glaze all must be mastered properly to showcase artistic creativity. His work "Chicken" depicts the chicken's head in iron-red glaze, while the back uses a celadon resembling white jade, and the abdomen reveals the beauty of earth through stone textures. A single work exhibits three different tones and textures. Tseng Ming-nan undoubtedly excels in his use of techniques and glazes along with creativity. The Taiwanese pronunciation of "chicken" is "home." The experience of leaving his hometown to pursue education made Tseng Ming-nan appreciate the value of 'home'. "Family ethics are an intrinsic Chinese tradition, rich in cultural significance." Additionally, when he was young, Tseng Ming-nan asked his mother to keep a dog as a pet, to which she replied: "There’s no food for people, what will the dog eat?" So, he ended up having a chick as a pet. Chickens have since become regular features in his works. For instance, "Family Portrait" depicts a rooster and hen accompanied by three chicks, where Tseng Ming-nan presents the rock-like texture by hand, highlighting the raw beauty of the earth. In the 1990s, Tseng Ming-nan dedicated himself to creating ceramic plates, using copper as a coloring agent during reduction firing to produce rich colors such as red, blue, purple, and green. For example, "Figures" is painted with sapphire glaze on ceramic plates, extending ink-wash style through the strokes of calligraphy. In this work, the lines of calligraphy bring out the features of the characters, while the background is fired to create an ink-splash landscape effect. The contrasting purple and white colors on the face enhance the mysterious ambiance of the female figure. Once lacking direction and relying solely on experience and the courage of a fisherman, following his father into the vast sea, this life experience instilled Tseng Ming-nan with the confidence to challenge himself. Regarding his ceramically crafted works that seem to emerge from divine hands, Tseng Ming-nan hopes that one day he can leave a mark in the art world." (Text and images from the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute)
