1. Towards the Foreign and the Unknown
1985 was a year when the Taiwanese society sought freedom and encouraged the development of new philosophies of art. It was a time when modern art gradually became clearly defined while factors of rebelliousness became commonplace in contemporary art. Moreover, 1985 was also the year that Ariel Kuo was born.

From 1985 to 2000, art in Taiwan flourished as contemporary art became widely accepted as the mainstream. Ariel Kuo resembled a tiny seed sowed in the fertile soil of art as she was immersed in this rich environment and studyied art with artist Tung Xia-hiu (董小蕙).

After turning 18 in 2003 and obtaining her high school diploma from Taipei Private Tsai Hsing Shcool, Ariel Kuo pursued further studies in visual art at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London and subsequently returned to Taiwan in 2007 after finishing her studies.

Growing up in the city of Taipei, Kuo was quite protected and pampered by her family. Soon after finishing high school, she had the privilege of extending her studies abroad in a city known for its art scene. It seems from this background that Kuo was born with a golden spoon in her mouth, however, Kuo is not ethereal in any sense but rather down to earth, living life as it is in the real world. With the support of her family, she demonstrated a kind of sincerity and determination towards studying art. Her sensitivity toward literature and arts was shown at a young age while her grace and elegance is manifested in her attitude, which also illustrates her attentiveness of the world around her. In this sense, Kuo has proven herself to be a considerate young woman with her own understanding and interpretation of the world while at the same time opening herself up to it without any prejudice or presuppositions.

During her early days abroad, Kuo faced the challenges of becoming an adult and learning to face the world while on the other hand exploring her cultural identity in a foreign society. In other words, Kuo needed to explore herself while at the same time endeavoring to comprehend a world she was not a part of but still needed to face heads-on. Perhaps for the pursuit of self-identity, Kuo’s artworks during her time abroad already manifested a keen observation of one’s environment. By interacting with and being involved in this environment, Kuo gained a profound understanding of her surroundings while endeavoring to define it.

From the artworks displayed, one easily sees the characteristics which define Kuo’s work. One sees that Kuo is able to enter a special space that she is curious to learn more about yet also keeps at a distance to record and keep track of this special space.

2. Facing Loneliness
Kuo demonstrated her strong creative energy very shortly after returning to Taiwan in 2007. Her first personal exhibition Daydream was held in VT Artsalon on Yi-Tong Street in Taiepi in March, 2008. This exhibition was considered an announcement of her connection with the new generation of contemporary artists in Taipei.

Ariel Kuo Lighten, Seeing no.5 (left) Lighten, Seeing no.3 (right) oil painting and pencil on Chinese pape 118 x 88 cm 2008

Around the same time in 2008, another one of Kuo’s personal exhibtion Distance was held at Gallery 41 in Taipei. The artworks exhibited were divided into two categories, namely, “Parallel Lines” and “Open and See”. The series of work called “Parallel Lines” focused mainly on photographs of different area, of which the images were combined to show the distance between various cultural backgrounds. The series “Open and See” were works of oil paint and pencil sketching, expressing Kuo’s interpretation of the gap between humans and dreams. At the same time, through the light and dark colors of frames, Kuo demonstrated the differences between dreams and reality. This exhibition revealed the more feminine (or perhaps darker) face of Kuo and also depicted with meticulous details emotions related to the concept of distance.

	Ariel Kuo Parallel Lines no.6 Photography , K3 VM ink, Epson UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper 170 x 67cm, 240 x 95cm 2007
	Ariel Kuo Parallel Lines no.10 Photography, K3 VM ink, Epson UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper 170 x 67cm, 240 x 95cm 2007

Also in 2008, another one of Kuo’s exhibition Single was held at the Taiwan International Visual Art Center (TIVA). Single was a multimedia exhibition integrating photography, videos, and writing. Kuo’s collection of artworks was photographs and films of real-life places which she visited. However, the images displayed were characterized by interlacing lines which blurred the appearance of different pieces. This in turn created a sense of isolation for the viewers, making them feel rejected from the places portrayed and hence sensing strong anxiety and foreignness. After careful scrutiny, one sees that Kuo processed unexposed film and negatives by creating scratches on them, the result of which were blurred images and lines emanating a sense of isolation. Through the way Kuo processed photographs and films, she aroused a sense of isolation within the viewers while conveying her own experience of being isolated.

According to Kuo, this collection depicted the loneliness of living life in a foreign culture. Just as she said in her introduction, the identity which was given to her by the Taiwanese society seemed to be drawn out from her when in a foreign society as she became a completely isolated individual facing strong anxiety. In an attempt to overcome this anxiety, Kuo wandered the streets and alleys as if to search her true self in an endless maze. It was perhaps because of this reason that Kuo’s piece Walking at a Rainy Night touched the hearts of many as it conveyed a sense of confusion while trying to discover oneself. Interestingly, the sense of loneliness and the need to be recognized culturally seen in Kuo’s works also seemed to reflect Taiwan’s situation in an era of globalization.

Furthermore, it was very likely this reflection that brought Kuo back to Taiwan, the land that she grew up in, after finishing her studies.

	Ariel Kuo Walking at a Rainy Night Photography, Video installation 2004 ( photography） 2008 (video installation）

3. Discovering oneself
I met Ariel Kuo for the first time in July, 2008 when I attended her exhibition at the Taiwan International Visual Art Center and we have been in touch ever since.

At the end of April in 2009, Ariel Kuo informed me that she was holding another exhibition called Place at the Dogpig Art Café in Kaohsiung. After returning to Taiwan, Kuo chose to live in Tainan for the pursuit of the beauty and aesthetics in daily life. Yet she still made the effort to visit me in Taipei with all the information and documents about her artworks. After meeting up with Ariel and learning more about her works, I felt that this was bound to be a wonderful exhibition which will win the hearts of many.

Ariel gave me a philosophical explanation of the theme “Places”, however, I felt that just the works themselves were already self-explanatory.

Ariel Kuo Alley no.2 Oil on canvas 15x 22.5cm 6pieces Tainan 2009 Ariel Kuo Mao's front door Oil on canvas 15x 22.5cm 4pieces Tainan 2009

First and foremost, one category of her artworks is called “Color Charts”, which are a collection of different colored oil-painted blocks of simple design juxtaposed together. What were originally abstract images were given names of specific places by Kuo, infusing special meanings into the images on both a cultural and geographical level. Through this collection, Ariel manifested experiences related to colors on the land of Taiwan while creating a sense of cultural identity through the use of colors on an emotional level.

（左） Ariel Kuo Arielleira K.series Place no.4 Oil on canvas 101 x 66cm Tainan 2009 （右） Ariel Kuo Arielleira K.series Place no.15 oil on canvas 51 x 66cm Tainan 2009

The second category of works is called “Places”, which shares the same name as the theme of the exhibition. This is a series of oil paintings extracting the places and objects which the Taiwanese are familiar with. The images were drawn from daily life, creating a sense of time and poetry. On the one hand, the combination of factors such as time and memory manifest the way the Kuo perceives herself and the world. On the other hand, Kuo’s works also showed that memories can become deeply rooted not just through important events but also from the minutiaes of daily life as long as one pays attention to details.

Ariel Kuo How is Taiwan like? project Photography Various sizes、62 pieces 2009

The third category of Ariel’s works are “Architectures and objects unique to Taiwan”. The collection highlights the use of colors and shapes in the lives of typical Taiwanese people. These seemingly ordinary shapes and colors of doors and windows were extracted by Ariel and transformed into lively and beautiful elements. Another category in the exhibition is installation art made from daily objects while yet another category are lights which resemble lanterns with both a retro and surreal touch. These works provide great room for imagination- the freedom to dream that oneself is at home or that one is wandering on foreign land.

（left） Ariel Kuo Leira Ouk series Tuan Yuan（candlestick） Stick, Chinese Paper, Gauze, String, Acylic Paint 36x36x120cm 2009 （right） Ariel Kuo Leira Ouk Series Decoration Painting for Chinese New Year Pastel 20x20cm 2009

Kuo may have felt confused and anxious during her time in a foreign country, however, she was able to transform this insecurity into energy to create works which display tolerance and accommodation. In turn, the land of Taiwan has become unique yet diverse when seen thorugh the eyes of Ariel Kuo.

Ariel Kuo has impressed me for her maturity to transform energy into beauty at such a young. I believe she is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the art circle in the days to come.