Ceramic Origami Boats Sail into Ceramics Museum! Liu Fang-ru's 'Ceramic Image Toys' Exhibition Recreates Childhood Memories | Liberty Times (TW) | 2026-08-12 17:22:00 UTC | zh
Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- The Yingge Ceramics Museum in New Taipei City is hosting a solo exhibition by ceramic artist Liu Fang-ru titled "Ceramic Image Toys."
- The exhibition features 28 works inspired by Taiwanese childhood games and daily life from the 1960s to 1980s.
- Through various ceramic techniques and mixed media, Liu's art recreates vintage toys and objects, evoking nostalgia and reflecting on Taiwanese popular culture.
New Taipei City's Yingge Ceramics Museum is currently showcasing "Ceramic Image Toys," a solo exhibition by ceramic artist Liu Fang-ru, running until September 6. The exhibition presents 28 of Liu's artworks, drawing inspiration from Taiwanese life and childhood games between the 1960s and 1980s.
The exhibition uses the 1960s to 1980s as the creative theme, drawing inspiration from childhood games like hopscotch, Monopoly, and the card game "Wang-zi Biao."
Liu's creations are rooted in nostalgic memories of popular pastimes such as hopscotch, Monopoly, and the card game "Wang-zi Biao." Employing a blend of ceramic art, mixed media, and a narrative style reminiscent of picture books, she breathes new life into vintage toys, fairy tales, and everyday objects. These pieces serve as a visual journey through the era's memories and trace the development of Taiwanese popular culture.
Zhang Qi-wen, the museum director, highlighted the museum's "application exhibition" mechanism, which encourages artists to use ceramics as a medium to express diverse cultural experiences. He praised Liu's ability to transform seemingly ordinary childhood toys and objects into art pieces rich with stories, using techniques like printmaking and transfer printing. Her work not only evokes shared memories across generations but also allows viewers to appreciate the broad expressive potential of ceramic art.
Liu Fang-ru uses life memories as creative nourishment, skillfully combining ceramics with mixed media techniques such as printmaking and transfer printing, transforming seemingly ordinary childhood toys and daily objects into artistic works rich in stories.
A notable series, "Origami Boat," comprises 13 ceramic boats. Each piece begins with the universal childhood memory of folding a paper boat from various materials like blank paper or old movie posters. Liu meticulously recreates the texture and age of these paper boats using clay, incorporating techniques such as paper lithography transfer, PS plate exposure inlay, copperplate etching inlay, and hand-painting. This series aims to stir deep-seated memories and emotional resonance in viewers.
The 'Origami Boat' series has 13 boats, starting from the paper boat in everyone's childhood memory. A piece of white paper, a movie poster, an advertisement flyer, folded into a small boat carrying dreams, accompanying many people through precious childhood times.
Other featured works include "Carousel," which uses delicate forms, vibrant colors, and mixed media to create a playful and imaginative atmosphere. "Chance and Fate" combines paper lithography transfer with ceramic creation, integrating clown and card elements to symbolize life's uncertainties and possibilities, prompting reflection on the human journey within a whimsical context. More information about the exhibition is available on the museum's website and Facebook page.
The artist uses clay to shape the folds of paper, combined with techniques such as paper lithography transfer, PS plate exposure inlay, copperplate etching inlay, and hand-painting, to delicately reproduce the texture and traces of time of the paper boat, hoping to evoke the viewer's deep-seated memories and emotional resonance.
Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.