Embers Underfoot
■ 地點 Venue ｜ 大河美術 RIVER ART GALLERY
大河美術將舉辦聯展《Embers Underfoot》，邀請五位來自不同背景的藝術家，包含出生於香港的加拿大籍華裔藝術家陳康俊、加拿大藝術家 WinnieTruong、旅居英國的臺灣藝術家余政諺，以及分別活躍於德英兩國的中國藝術家張新顏與劉欣然。展覽以當前世界的劇變為切入點，聚焦人在不確定性中對信念與價值的堅持，並以「迷信」作為核心概念，進一步提出「迷信」並非狹義的盲信或荒誕，而是一 種文化與心理的產物——既是人類面對未知的本能回應，也是凝聚社群、傳承記憶的象徵性實踐。展覽嘗試跳脫負面語境，從文化、心理與象徵層面，重新探討「迷信」在當代社會中的存在價值。
在人類歷史長河中，迷信常與日常行為、物件或符號緊密交織，成為一種「世俗信仰」。它未必直接與宗教相關，卻以獨特的美學與實踐，潛移默化地形塑我們的世界觀與集體記憶。火焰，作為多數文明的神聖象徵，代表光明、祈願與啟示;而「Embers」——火焰燃燒後殘留的餘燼——則象徵歷史與信仰 的延續。它們既可能溫暖人心，也潛藏灼傷與毀滅的力量，最終化為文化的沉積，滋養大地孕育生命， 成為社會與個體立足的根基。
展覽從余政諺的作品展開旅程，以童年家鄉的植物意象與煉金術的轉化過程，象徵醞釀、變化與重構， 開啟一場圍繞時間與記憶的精神鍊金，於廢墟之中尋覓重生的契機。接著步入陳康俊充滿九〇年代香港電影氛圍的世界，透過機運、美學與文化符號的交錯，回應社會與視覺文化中關於命運與信仰的哲學性提問。
而當迷信的結果顯現時，我們是否亦能反推出背後的心理與文化機制?藝術家劉欣然與陳康俊有著異曲同工之妙，有別於具象的表現結果，她以抽象的語言捕捉轉瞬即逝的思緒與記憶，在這樣直覺性轉 譯的過程，暗示了人類集體潛意識交集中的慣性與脈絡。而 Winnie Truong 以精緻細膩的剪紙探討人與植物間的互動，顛覆「主體」與「環境」的關係，模糊了界線。兩位皆挑戰觀者對感知默契與熟悉性的依賴，試圖引發提問:我們的感知是否本身已被文化塑形?所謂「熟悉」究竟是否真實?
長期關注女性與兒童等弱勢議題的張新顏，則是揭示當信仰走向極端時所呈現的迷信特質。她以七〇 年代歌舞廳舞者的肖像為題，透過誇張、扭曲而帶有童趣的再詮釋，揭露時代烙印下的面容，藉此探討當代社會更隱匿的價值信仰系統。最終再次回望余政諺的創作，《賢者之石》系列寓意著萬物將在歷史與信仰的淬鍊中，留下深邃無形的精神餘燼，猶如「靈性化石」，構成我們腳下堅實的基礎。
透過《Embers Underfoot》，大河美術試圖構築一個跨文化的對話場域，引導觀眾重新理解「迷信」作 為文化與時間沉積物的多重樣貌。它既是溫柔的火光，也是警醒的灼燒;既承載信仰，也映照現實。展覽邀請觀者在這些餘燼之中，看見人類精神的延續與文化根基的再生。
RIVER ART GALLERY will present the group exhibition “Embers Underfoot”, featuring five artists of diverse backgrounds: Hong Kong-born, Canadian artist Peter Hong-Tsun Chan; Canadian artist Winnie Truong; London-based Taiwanese artist Yu Cheng Yen; and Chinese artists Xinyan Zheng and Xinran Liu, active in Germany and the UK.
Taking the upheavals of the contemporary world as a point of departure, the exhibition examines how humanity sustains beliefs and values amid uncertainty. Anchored in the concept of superstition, it reframes the term not as blind faith or irrationality, but as a cultural and psychological phenomenon—both a primal response to the unknown and an emblematic practice that unites communities and preserves memory. The exhibition aims to move beyond a negative framework, reconsidering superstition’s contemporary significance through cultural, psychological, and symbolic lenses.
In history, superstition has been woven into everyday actions, objects, and symbols, forming a kind of “secular belief.” Independent of organized religion, it nonetheless shapes worldviews and collective memory through distinct aesthetics and practices. Fire, regarded as sacred across civilizations, signifies illumination, invocation, and revelation; “embers”—the remnants of fire—embody continuity, survival, and renewal. They can nurture or destroy, but ultimately settle as cultural sediment, nourishing the ground on which society and individuals stand.
The show begins with Yu Cheng Yen’s work, where imagery of childhood plants and the transformative processes of alchemy symbolize incubation, change, and reconstruction, initiating a spiritual alchemy of time and memory, as well as seeking renewal amid ruins. It then leads into the evocative world of Peter Hong-Tsun Chan, whose practice draws upon the cinematic sensibilities of 1990s Hong Kong. Through the interplay of chance, aesthetics, and cultural symbols, his works raise philosophical questions about fate and belief within social and visual culture.
When the outcomes of superstition manifest, can we in turn trace back the psychological and cultural mechanisms at play? Xinran Liu’s work, in dialogue with Chan’s representational forms, she captures fleeting thoughts and memories through abstraction. In this intuitive translation, she reveals the patterns and impulses within humanity’s collective unconscious. Similarly, Winnie Truong’s intricate cut- paper works blur the boundary between human and environment, challenging viewers’ reliance on perceptual familiarity and raising the question: Is perception itself already culturally shaped?
Xinyan Zheng, long engaged with issues of women and children, reveals when superstition comes to extremes through reimagined portraits of 1970s cabaret dancers. Exaggerated and whimsical, the portraits expose the imprint of an era while probing hidden value systems in contemporary society. The show concludes with Yu Cheng Yen’s “Philosopher’s Stone” series, suggesting that everything will leave behind the intangible “spiritual embers”—like fossils of the soul—through the crucible of history and belief.
Through “Embers Underfoot”, RIVER ART GALLERY creates a cross-cultural dialogue, inviting audiences to reconsider superstition as cultural sediment layered through time. It is at once a gentle flame and a searing burn; both vessel of belief and mirror of reality. Within these embers, the exhibition invites viewers to witness the persistence of the human spirit and the regeneration of cultural foundations.
