Toronto
Objects accrue cultural value like pearls accrue nacre—slowly, through layerings of meaning and time. The works in An Te Liu’s exhibition “Mono No Ma” (mono meaning thing and ma meaning space or gap) explore the act of imbuing superfluous objects—Styrofoam packing materials and casings—with value. Liu creates meaning, and thus value, by reproducing these materials in stoneware and re-encasing them within high-gloss glazes. His reimagined, rebirthed objects accrue status and possibly reverence through their repackaging as art objects installed within the glossy casing of the museum. Liu’s artist statement for “Mono No Ma” credits funerary ware in the Gardiner’s Ancient Americas collection as a partial inspiration for this collection of 19 wall pieces and sculptures. He is well aware that viewers will rely on established symbols and cultural assumptions to create meaning in the work, and therein lies their irony …see the entire review in the print version of April’s Sculpture magazine.
