Pavavaljung came up with the idea of representing landscape, life forms and traditional aboriginal architecture by means of markings and patterns after 2009’s Typhoon Morakot devastated his Davalan tribal village in the mountains of Pingtung County, southern Taiwan.
The stories related in many of Pavavaljung’s woodblock carvings center on his people’s diaspora in the aftermath of the typhoon. The entire community was forced to relocate, and yet the people remain deeply attached to their roots even though their home was destroyed.
An indigenous Paiwan, Pavavaljung was born in 1963 in Davalan. His first name Etan means brave in the Paiwan language, and the Pavavaljung family boasts a tradition of artisan craftsmanship.
Drawing inspiration from his beloved Davalan landscape, as well as the mystic Paiwan history and culture, Pavavaljung has refined the art of woodblock carving building on his rich experience in advertising design, carving, documentary filmmaking, installation art, painting, photography and poetry.
By coloring the carved wood panels, he has created something akin to woodblock printing, but each work is one of a kind as it cannot be reproduced.
In the eponymous work of his first large-scale solo exhibition “The Fragrant Mountain Winds: Meet Etan’s Depictions through Markings and Patterns,” he uses circles, a symbol of fullness in Paiwan culture, to represent the deep, inseparable bond between mankind and nature.
“I want people to reflect on our relationship with nature. We have to reclaim our friendship and mutual love of the land, so Mother Nature will once again grant us the fragrant mountain winds,” Pavavaljung said.
The exhibition is showing at Taipei Fine Arts Museum through May 18 in Taipei City. (YHC-JSM)
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