葛文・查爾斯：2025絕對空間藝術進駐藝術家成果發表 ➌ gwen charles : Absolute Space Artists-in-Residence Program for 2025 ➌
絕對空間藝術進駐的駐村計畫來到第二年，今年我們以「也著神・也著人」為主題，邀請了三位分別由日本北海道天神山藝術工作室、黃金町管理中心、德國柏林GlogauAIR的藝術家來到臺灣，一位則是透過公開徵件徵選的藝術家，來自法國的Sandrine Deumier。目前進駐的藝術家是gwen Charles，她此次駐村關注公共空間與休憩的關係，進駐期間，她攜帶枕頭、穿著睡衣，選取了台南各個地點進行休息，拍攝成錄像作品，同時，她的作品也關於參與，她邀請民眾攜帶一塊有故事的布料，分享布料的故事，最後將這些布料集結成縮小版的被單。其工作坊則帶領民眾分享彼此照顧自己與照顧別人的方式。最後，她以「安適之棲」為名，以錄像、互動式作品，展示此次進駐的成果。
葛文‧查爾斯gwen charles「安適之棲 The Search for Comfort and Safety」展覽現場。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供
「安適之棲」
藝術家：葛文・查爾斯
此展覽以「休憩、變化萬千的天氣、安全，以及祥雲廟宇雲紋」為主題。
藝術家 gwen charles 首次造訪亞洲，來到台南絕對空間藝術進駐駐村。在這裡，她準備與台南社群一同探討自我照護與安慰的方法，並延續她在家人經歷過一段緊密照護與失落之後，圍繞「安適與悲傷」所展開的藝術創作。她以「床鋪」的影像作為安慰的象徵，鼓勵觀眾停下腳步、給自己休息的時刻。
在駐村期間，她於工作室中與台南社群進行一對一的訪談，邀請人們分享在困境中能夠帶來慰藉的事物，同時也請他們提供具有安適故事的布料片段。這些布料最終透過「針氈」的方式被結合，製作成一條條小型毛毯，覆蓋在她身體的立體縮尺模型上。針氈的製作過程使用帶倒鉤的針，反覆刺入布料，讓纖維彼此纏結，而不需要縫線或膠水。這個過程成為「人與人之間無形聯繫」的隱喻，因為實際上沒有任何有形的事物將我們綁在一起。
受到台南廟宇文化及「神明融入日常生活」氛圍的啟發，gwen 幾乎每天都走訪廟宇，並特別從牆面上古老的「祥雲」圖像獲得靈感。祥雲，作為天地、人神之間，以及張力與柔和之間的象徵，成為她作品的重要意象。她將這些雲紋圖像與床鋪的主題融合，繪製成新的圖像。這些作品延續了美國「哈德遜河畫派」受歐洲浪漫主義影響的傳統，以細膩的筆觸與對自然的敬意，描繪出自己擁抱廟宇祥雲的浪漫化畫面，將東西方的精神理想融為一體。
葛文‧查爾斯gwen charles「安適之棲 The Search for Comfort and Safety」展覽現場。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供
gwen 一直以來便專注於風、雲、暴風雨，以及各種氣象與氣候現象如何影響人類經驗。當她抵達台灣亞熱帶的氣候時，極端的天氣讓她深受衝擊。颱風帶來的豪雨與狂風不僅干擾了日常，也擾亂了她的創作思路與材料選擇。雲朵於是成為風暴的象徵。風暴過後，街道上散落殘骸，建築與樹木被安全警示帶纏繞。她收集這些風暴後遺留的警示帶，將其作為多件紙上作品與數位拼貼的基底，直接與環境展開對話。
面對如此強烈而變幻莫測的氣候經驗，她深刻感受到「天氣」作為隱喻，代表著人類無法控制的外在力量。這些作品因而聚焦於「尋找安全感」的主題，表現出對自然的畏懼、敬畏與讚嘆並存的複雜情感。作品中反覆出現的「螢光黃」，不僅呼應她經歷的猛烈閃電暴風雨，也指涉安全裝備上常見的顏色。
在台南的三個月裡，gwen 透過版畫、繪畫、纖維創作以及行為表演等多樣媒材，不斷實驗，並與在地社群互動，創作出一系列「因地而生」的作品，真實反映她在台南的直接體驗。
葛文‧查爾斯gwen charles「安適之棲 The Search for Comfort and Safety」展覽現場。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供
葛文‧查爾斯 gwen charles【安適之棲 The Search for Comfort and Safety】
✧ 展期 Exhibition Date｜2025.8.30 - 9.14
✧ 開幕 Opening｜2025.9.6 15:00-18:00
✧ 座談 Forum｜2025. 9.6 Sat 15:30-17:00
✧ 藝術家 Artist｜葛文‧查爾斯 gwen charles
✧ 與談人Panelist｜李奎壁 Li, Kuei-Pi （藝術家Artist）
✧ 地點 Venue｜三和進駐基地 SanHo Art Lab
✧ 地址 Address｜臺南市南區三和街14號 No. 14, Sanhe St., South Dist., Tainan City
✧ 開放時間 Opening Hours｜週三至週日 Wed to Sun 12:00-18:00
主辦單位 Organizer：絕對空間藝術進駐 Absolute Space AIR
合作推薦單位 Recommending Unit：德國柏林GlogauAIR
指導單位 Advisor：文化部 Ministry of Culture
The Search for Comfort and Safety
by gwen charles
Featuring works on the theme of rest, dynamic weather, safety and XiangYun temple clouds.
On this first visit to Asia, artist gwen charles arrived at her residency at Absolute Space AIR, Tainan prepared to discuss approaches to self-care and comfort with the Tainan community and continue to make artwork around the themes of comfort and grief after an intense period of caretaking and loss in her family. She has been using images of bedding as a symbol of comfort to encourage the audience to rest.
Interviewing members of the community in one-on-one conversations in her studio at Absolute Space, she asked them to share what brings them consolation during difficult moments, and requested they share pieces of textiles that may have a story of comfort. These textile piece have been combined through needle felting to create small blankets for a miniature three-dimensional model of her body. The needle felting process uses a barbed needle that pierces the fabric and tangles the threads together, using no sewing or glue. This process becomes a metaphor for the invisible connection between people, as nothing physical ties us together.
Inspired by the local temple culture and the integration of the divine in everyday life in Tainan ldquoThe City of Temples,quot she visited a temple daily, finding inspiration in the XiangYun, ancient stylized symbols of clouds within the temple walls. The clouds, a well-known symbol that express the space between earth and sky, human and divine, and intensity and softness. Integrated the imagery into her work, these drawings incorporate the symbols of clouds and the previous theme of bedding to create a new image. Following the theory and tradition of painting depicting the natural landscape and weather in the Hudson River School inspired by European Romanticism, with soft brushstrokes and reverence for nature, she produced romanticized images of the herself hugging stylized clouds from the temple walls, combining Eastern and Western ideals into one image.
葛文‧查爾斯gwen charles「安適之棲 The Search for Comfort and Safety」展覽現場。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供
With an already established preoccupation with the influence of wind, clouds, storms, and meteorological and climatological phenomena on the human experience, gwen was overwhelmed with the weather extremes upon her arrival to the subtropical climate on the island of Taiwan. Heavy rains and wind from tropical storms and typhoons, not only disrupted her daily activities, but also brought a disruption of ideas and materials. The clouds, also became of symbol of the storms. After the storms, the streets were littered with debris, and safety tape was wrapped around buildings and trees. Collecting safety tape from the streets after the storms, the tape became the base for several works on paper and digital collages created in direct collaboration with the environment. Overcome with the intense dynamic weather experiences, and perceiving the metaphor of weather and the inability to control the outside influences on our human lives, she created works focused on the search for safety, while also in fear of, yet holding a reverence for and sense of awe for Mother Nature.
The color fluorescent yellow repeats in the prints and highlights the intense lightning storms she experienced and the also reflect the color used for safety equipment.
Her works created at Absolute Space over her three-month residency period reflect her direct experience of Tainan, creating site-responsive works, through experimentation with printmaking, drawing, textiles, through interaction with the community and performance.
葛文‧查爾斯進駐期間創作過程。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供
「從對話與拼貼中找尋慰藉」工作坊
ldquoFinding comfort through conversation and collagerdquo Workshop
日期Date：2025.8.30 Sat 14:00-16:00
地點Venue 三和進駐基地 SanHo Art Lab
地址Address：臺南市南區三和街14號 No. 14, Sanhe St., South Dist., Tainan City
工作坊宣傳海報。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供
【關於此工作坊 About this Workshop】
是什麼替你帶來慰藉？是什麼讓你感到平靜？
在這場由紐約藝術家、現任「絕對空間駐村藝術家」gwen charles 所帶領的兩小時拼貼與對話工作坊中，參與者將分享對自身身心狀態的感受，一同練習呼吸，並透過拼貼創作來探索慰藉與休息的意象。charles 目前的創作主題聚焦於「慰藉、失落與哀傷」，靈感來自她經歷密集的家庭照護後的生命歷程。
在這場創意且療癒的活動中，參與者將以台南歷史古廟中常見的「祥雲」圖像作為創作基底，拼貼、描繪出與慰藉與關懷相關的意象，並藉此梳理個人故事，描繪出屬於自己對未來的正向想像。
活動結束時，參與者將帶著自己的拼貼作品、一份限量版藝術家印刷品，以及一顆重新整理的心靈離開。
What brings you comfort? What brings you peace?
During this two-hour collage and conversational workshop with gwen charles, New York based artist, current artist-in-residence at Absolute Space AIR, participants will discuss sentiments on their wellbeing, take time to breathe together, and create a collage to explore ideas of comfort and rest. charles#39 current art practice is focused on themes of comfort, loss and grief after an intense period of caretaking of family.
Participants will be invited to collage and draw images related to comfort and care and as a way to process their own personal narratives using the image of the Auspicious Clouds seen in the historic temples of Tainan as a base for their own individual image of a positive future in this creative, healing project.
Participants will leave the workshop with their collage, a limited-edition artist print, and a refreshed spirit.
工作坊活動現場。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供
葛文‧查爾斯 gwen charles
居住於紐約的跨領域藝術家葛文‧查爾斯（生於1975年），在其現場表演與融合雕塑、影像與動作的錄像作品中，經常以自身作為表演主體，探索女性經驗。她的表演多在非典型空間中進行，靈感來自日常物件、夢境意象與歷史參照，將現實與魔幻寫實元素交織，以反映日常生活中的荒誕性。近期作品探討人類世、生態女性主義、與自然重新連結、照護經驗，以及失落與哀悼等情緒，並以女性身體為載體呈現。 葛文‧查爾斯 的工作室位於美國紐澤西州蒙特克萊爾歷史悠久的教會街。我意識到蒙特克萊爾座落於萊納佩民族未經割讓的傳統領地之上，並向萊納佩族的祖先與過去、現在與未來的族人致上敬意與尊重。
New York based multi-disciplinary artist gwen charles (b. 1975) interjects the performing body, often her own, as an exploration of the female experience in live performances and videos interweaving sculpture, video and movement. Performances, often in alternative spaces, take inspiration from everyday objects, dream imagery and historical references, merging elements of reality and magical realism to reflect on the absurdity of daily life. Recent works broach themes surrounding the Anthropocene, ecofeminism, reconnecting to nature, caregiving and feelings of loss and grief, all embodied by the female figure.
gwen charles has a studio in the historic Church Street Montclair, NJ, USA. I acknowledge that Montclair is situated on unceded traditional territories of the Lenape nation homeland. I honor and respect the Lenape ancestors and people of the past, present, and future.
夢境女公爵 Dream Duchess, 2024, digital collage printed on aluminum, 14rdquox 18rdquo 圖片版權copygwen charles。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供
安撫者／被子 Comforter, 2024 9Primex11rdquo Limited edition print of 50, 3-color Risograph, rice-bran oil on cardstock. 圖片版權copygwen charles。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供
公共休憩Rest in Public ndash Berlin, Euro Sham, 2024, Digital Photograph, 70cm x 160cm圖片版權copygwen charles。圖/絕對空間藝術進駐提供