Hsin Hwang
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Residency Notes
Residency Note｜Foshan, China
During my residency in Foshan, I spent my days observing how spiritual life quietly unfolds in domestic spaces. Instead of grand temples or formal ceremonies, I became drawn to the small devotional gestures that women perform at home—lighting incense, arranging offerings, tying protective charms, or tending to family altars. These understated acts revealed an intimate spiritual rhythm woven into everyday life.
I visited neighborhoods where devotion is expressed through repetition and care: the soft ash on an incense dish, the worn edges of fabric-wrapped amulets, or the way household objects become carriers of blessing and memory. These encounters shaped my approach in the studio, where I worked with xuan paper and traditional pigments to explore ritual marks, stains, and the physicality of gesture.
A pivotal moment of the residency was witnessing a local women’s dragon boat gathering. Unlike the typical imagery of male-dominated dragon boat culture, this event centered on female teamwork, endurance, and ritual strength. Watching the synchronized movement of rowing—breath aligned with muscle and water—expanded my understanding of devotion as a bodily practice, carried through rhythm and collective effort.
The experience of Foshan allowed me to rethink how spiritual knowledge is preserved: not through monumental icons, but through the persistence of small rituals and the bodies that repeat them. My works from this period reflect this focus on quiet resilience, feminine agency, and the layered relationship between belief and daily life.