Modified Land: Creative Research in Taiwan as a Fulbright Scholar in 2021

Abstract

As a Fulbright Scholar, I had the opportunity to work at the International Printmaking Center at National Taiwan Normal University. A few months after arriving in Taipei, the city shut down due to a Covid outbreak. No longer able to use the printmaking studio, I worked in my small apartment. I carved blocks and printed them by hand, using traditional water-based techniques called mokuhanga. In this reflective paper and presentation, I share my creative practice and research behind the work I created.  

Over the course of the year, I responded to the interior and exterior of natural and manufactured environments in Taiwan. I rode my bike along nearly empty streets in the sweltering summer heat to visit the wetlands, gardens, canals and parks. I walked through neighborhoods, discovering small gardens along sidewalks and in alleyways. I explored the traces, modifications, transformations and reconstructions of the Taiwanese landscape. From these experiences, I created a series of narrative prints that tell a story about the human capacity to shape the world around us. Modified Land is a series of woodblock prints that capture the experience of what it is to be in a place.