TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The art world mourned the loss of Shi Jin-hua (石晉華), a seminal conceptual and performance artist who passed away in 2024.
Taipei’s Mind Set Art Center will present a major solo exhibition celebrating his life and enduring legacy — a centerpiece of the gallery’s 15th anniversary — bringing together a compelling selection of works, including pieces never before shown to the public.
Drawing on a profound journey of life and spiritual practice, Shi transformed personal experience into universal art. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 17, his daily blood tests and insulin injections became the foundation of an artistic philosophy.
He elevated these acts of measurement into a meditative inquiry. In his “Insulin Journal,” he mixed insulin doses with pencil strokes to create rhythmic lines on paper, mapping a unique life path.
The concept deepened in “One Thousand Days,” which fused his Buddhist faith with his medical routine as he meticulously marked blood drops on paper to manifest spiritual dedication.
“One Thousand Days.” (Mind Set Art Center photo)
The exhibition also features the iconic “Pen Walking” series, begun in 1994 when he drew until the ink in a pen ran dry — a meditation on impermanence. The series culminated in “Pencil Walker.”
Over two decades, Shi walked with a pencil across a nine-meter-wide wooden wall while reciting Buddhist scriptures. The once pristine surface gradually became a reflective black plane, a physical record of spiritual walking and a symbol of transforming karma into art.
Shi’s work continues to inspire through the union of body and practice. The exhibition runs through Sept. 20.
“Pen Walking.” (Mind Set Art Center photo)
“Pencil Walker.” (Mind Set Art Center photo)