SDG11
NCKU Hosts “Soft Construction” Dual Exhibition by Chao-Hao Liao × Hsuan Hung
The 19th Lee Chung-Sheng Foundation Visual Arts Award winners, Chao-Hao Liao and Hsuan Hung, are presenting a dual exhibition titled “Soft Construction《軟性構建》” at the NCKU Art Studio from March 7 to March 29, 2026. The opening reception was held today (March 7), inviting attendees to experience the beauty of art and engage with the creative spirit continued from Chung-Sheng Lee, renowned as the “Mentor of Modern Painting in Taiwan.”
Chia-Han Yang, Deputy Director of the NCKU Arts Center, remarked in his speech that NCKU Arts Center is the first art center established on campus and has always sought to differentiate itself from external art institutions. As a university, it is crucial to integrate courses with activities and connect with society. Through programs such as Art Initiation, the Arts Center arranges visits to artists’ works, inviting renowned artists to teach and exhibit on campus. This collaboration with the two award-winning artists and the Foundation allows NCKU to serve as a platform for sharing aesthetic experiences, fostering interaction with the public, and enriching cultural engagement.
The Lee Chung-Sheng Foundation for Modern Painting was established to promote and advance modern painting and encourage contemporary artistic creation. Held biennially, the 19th edition of the award involved a rigorous selection process with judges including Ming-Hong Yan, Hsiao-Yan Huang, Shi-Ming Bai, Bu-Ching Huang, and Wei-Zheng Huang. After preliminary, secondary, and final rounds, Chao-Hao Liao and Hsuan Hung were selected from over 100 participants to receive the top prize, each awarded a trophy and a prize of NT$300,000.
The exhibition “Soft Construction” is centered on the theme of “construction,” aiming to challenge established perceptions of structure, power, and materiality. Through a “soft” artistic language, the exhibition opens new ways of perceiving and interpreting reality.
Chao-Hao Liao, a Ph.D. candidate at Tainan National University of the Arts’ Graduate Institute of Art Creation and Theory, noted that his work seeks to explore enjoyment and experimentation in creation. Starting from the concept of “landscape engineering”, he examines how engineering structures and symbols of power shape our understanding of space and weight. Using fibrous materials such as paper pulp, he recreates the originally heavy and massive engineering components, visually transforming concrete and steel into a lighter and warmer form, challenging viewers’ intuitive perceptions of structural stability and material weight.
Liao explained that the term “construction” is often associated with reinforced concrete, engineering logic, or rigid institutional systems. In this exhibition, both artists transform it into a highly flexible and translatable creative strategy. The “softness” here does not imply physical fragility but represents a perceptual approach that creates gaps between rationality and sensibility, and between collective and individual experience, encouraging viewers to rethink the structures that define their reality.
Hsuan Hung, a graduate of the Department of Fine Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts and recipient of multiple awards including the Liu Kuo-Sung Ink Art Award, Kaohsiung Award, and Taipei Fine Arts Award, specializes in extending traditional art from two-dimensional formats into spatial experiences. She expressed that the NCKU exhibition contains many surprises for viewers and thanked the Foundation for allowing domestic and international artists to participate in the award, providing exposure to outstanding works. She reflected on the influence of Lee Chung-Sheng on her teachers during her studies, noting that the path of creation is challenging, and persistence fueled by passion is essential to achieve recognition, such as this award.
Hung’s artistic practice begins with calligraphy and painting conventions, focusing on established visual frameworks and formal rules in traditional works. Through silk scrolls and spatial arrangements, she transforms two-dimensional formats into walkable, permeable, and perceptible experiences, allowing historical forms to blend into contemporary life and creating a sensory dialogue between tradition and the present.
Bu-Ching Huang, Chairman of the Lee Chung-Sheng Foundation, highlighted Lee Chung-Sheng’s legacy as the “Mentor of Modern Painting in Taiwan,” nurturing hundreds of outstanding artists in central and southern Taiwan. Since 1989, the Foundation has presented both a Lifetime Achievement Award and the biennial Visual Arts Award. While the prize money may not be the highest in Taiwan’s art world, the award has earned significant recognition. Winners are respected by the artistic community, and the Foundation congratulated the 19th edition’s recipients for their achievement.
The NCKU Arts Center sincerely invites faculty, students, and the general public to visit the Art Studio to experience “Soft Construction”. Through the exhibition, viewers are invited to explore alternative possibilities within established realities and cultural structures. Both artists employ mimicry as a creative method, translating originally rigid and authoritative visual symbols into flexible, tactile media. In “Soft Construction,” landscape engineering and calligraphy/pictorial conventions intertwine, creating a dialogue on perceptual displacement and structural reinterpretation, guiding audiences to reconsider how art can intervene and reshape our connection with the world through softness.
【Exhibition information】
“Soft Construction” – Chao-Hao Liao × Hsuan Hung
✶ Dates: March 7 (Sat) – March 29 (Sun), 2026 | 9:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (Closed Sundays and national holidays)
✶ Special Openings: March 8 (Sun) and March 29 (Sun) | 9:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
✶ Organizers: Lee Chung-Sheng Foundation for Modern Painting, National Cheng Kung University Arts Center
Chia-Han Yang, Deputy Director of the NCKU Arts Center, remarked in his speech that NCKU Arts Center is the first art center established on campus and has always sought to differentiate itself from external art institutions. As a university, it is crucial to integrate courses with activities and connect with society. Through programs such as Art Initiation, the Arts Center arranges visits to artists’ works, inviting renowned artists to teach and exhibit on campus. This collaboration with the two award-winning artists and the Foundation allows NCKU to serve as a platform for sharing aesthetic experiences, fostering interaction with the public, and enriching cultural engagement.
The Lee Chung-Sheng Foundation for Modern Painting was established to promote and advance modern painting and encourage contemporary artistic creation. Held biennially, the 19th edition of the award involved a rigorous selection process with judges including Ming-Hong Yan, Hsiao-Yan Huang, Shi-Ming Bai, Bu-Ching Huang, and Wei-Zheng Huang. After preliminary, secondary, and final rounds, Chao-Hao Liao and Hsuan Hung were selected from over 100 participants to receive the top prize, each awarded a trophy and a prize of NT$300,000.
The exhibition “Soft Construction” is centered on the theme of “construction,” aiming to challenge established perceptions of structure, power, and materiality. Through a “soft” artistic language, the exhibition opens new ways of perceiving and interpreting reality.
Chao-Hao Liao, a Ph.D. candidate at Tainan National University of the Arts’ Graduate Institute of Art Creation and Theory, noted that his work seeks to explore enjoyment and experimentation in creation. Starting from the concept of “landscape engineering”, he examines how engineering structures and symbols of power shape our understanding of space and weight. Using fibrous materials such as paper pulp, he recreates the originally heavy and massive engineering components, visually transforming concrete and steel into a lighter and warmer form, challenging viewers’ intuitive perceptions of structural stability and material weight.
Liao explained that the term “construction” is often associated with reinforced concrete, engineering logic, or rigid institutional systems. In this exhibition, both artists transform it into a highly flexible and translatable creative strategy. The “softness” here does not imply physical fragility but represents a perceptual approach that creates gaps between rationality and sensibility, and between collective and individual experience, encouraging viewers to rethink the structures that define their reality.
Hsuan Hung, a graduate of the Department of Fine Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts and recipient of multiple awards including the Liu Kuo-Sung Ink Art Award, Kaohsiung Award, and Taipei Fine Arts Award, specializes in extending traditional art from two-dimensional formats into spatial experiences. She expressed that the NCKU exhibition contains many surprises for viewers and thanked the Foundation for allowing domestic and international artists to participate in the award, providing exposure to outstanding works. She reflected on the influence of Lee Chung-Sheng on her teachers during her studies, noting that the path of creation is challenging, and persistence fueled by passion is essential to achieve recognition, such as this award.
Hung’s artistic practice begins with calligraphy and painting conventions, focusing on established visual frameworks and formal rules in traditional works. Through silk scrolls and spatial arrangements, she transforms two-dimensional formats into walkable, permeable, and perceptible experiences, allowing historical forms to blend into contemporary life and creating a sensory dialogue between tradition and the present.
Bu-Ching Huang, Chairman of the Lee Chung-Sheng Foundation, highlighted Lee Chung-Sheng’s legacy as the “Mentor of Modern Painting in Taiwan,” nurturing hundreds of outstanding artists in central and southern Taiwan. Since 1989, the Foundation has presented both a Lifetime Achievement Award and the biennial Visual Arts Award. While the prize money may not be the highest in Taiwan’s art world, the award has earned significant recognition. Winners are respected by the artistic community, and the Foundation congratulated the 19th edition’s recipients for their achievement.
The NCKU Arts Center sincerely invites faculty, students, and the general public to visit the Art Studio to experience “Soft Construction”. Through the exhibition, viewers are invited to explore alternative possibilities within established realities and cultural structures. Both artists employ mimicry as a creative method, translating originally rigid and authoritative visual symbols into flexible, tactile media. In “Soft Construction,” landscape engineering and calligraphy/pictorial conventions intertwine, creating a dialogue on perceptual displacement and structural reinterpretation, guiding audiences to reconsider how art can intervene and reshape our connection with the world through softness.
【Exhibition information】
“Soft Construction” – Chao-Hao Liao × Hsuan Hung
✶ Dates: March 7 (Sat) – March 29 (Sun), 2026 | 9:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (Closed Sundays and national holidays)
✶ Special Openings: March 8 (Sun) and March 29 (Sun) | 9:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
✶ Organizers: Lee Chung-Sheng Foundation for Modern Painting, National Cheng Kung University Arts Center
Chia-Han Yang, Deputy Director of the NCKU Arts Center, stated that in the future he hopes to use NCKU as a platform to introduce more people to art and to foster greater interaction between the university and external organizations.
Hsuan Hung, a graduate of the Department of Fine Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts, expressed gratitude for the outstanding work of Lee Chung-Sheng, which has been a source of inspiration for the art community.
Chao-Hao Liao, a Ph.D. student at the Graduate Institute of Art Creation and Theory at Tainan National University of the Arts, remarked that he hopes to find more joy and inspiration in his creative work.
Chao-Hao Liao’s work originates from the concept of “landscape engineering,” focusing on how engineering structures and symbols of power shape the public’s understanding of space and weight.
Artist Chao-Hao Liao integrates his works with the environment, creating a style full of playful, childlike charm.
Hsuan Hung takes “calligraphy and painting conventions” as the starting point of her creation, focusing on the established visual frameworks and formal rules in traditional calligraphy and painting.
Works by Hsuan Hung: Left – New Situation《新局》; Right – Fortune and Longevity Road《福壽路》
Bu-Ching Huang, Chairman of the Lee Chung-Sheng Foundation, stated that although the prize money of the Foundation’s awards is not the highest in the art world, they are highly recognized within Taiwan’s art community.
Group Photo of the Opening Ceremony
Dual Exhibition “Soft Construction” by 19th Lee Chung-Sheng Foundation Visual Arts Award Winners – Chao-Hao Liao × Hsuan Hung, on View at NCKU Art Studio from March 7 to March 29
