Alchemy
Huang Bo-Hao
黃柏皓
Production date
2014
Object Detail
Media
cinnabar on torinoko paper
Measurements
153 x 213 cm
Notes
For Alchemy (2014) Huang Bo-Hao used cinnabar ore as his essential mineral ingredient, in a deliberate reference to the practices and beliefs of oriental alchemists. The teachings of Daoist alchemy focused on the production of a magical golden elixir which, when ingested, conferred immortality on the drinker (perhaps spiritual rather than literal), as well as longevity, healing, protection from demons, and the ability to commune with the gods. Working with a range of natural substances, but primarily cinnabar, and searching for transcendence, the alchemist traced the Daoist process of transformation backwards, from the ‘ten thousand things’ of the physical world to the mystery of the Dao. Cinnabar is mercuric sulphide, the source of scarlet and vermilion pigments used since the Song Dynasty for colouring lacquer-ware, despite its extreme toxicity. Huang Bo-Hao, similarly, transforms ordinary materials into something extraordinary — more than two metres across, the deep, saturated orange-red is so intense that it seems to pulsate. Even working every day, the painting took Huang four months to complete. ‘It’s not unlike breathing,’ he says. ‘I let time and myself go in this laborious process of making.’
Accession number
2015.009