A Johnny-come-lately to the world of the silky verse, Shiah did not discover the charm of prose until after graduating as a classical music major from university. Starting out as an executive editor of an indie poetry journal in 2005, she was exposed to a wide selection of readings written by professional writers. Although not inspired to write own material at the time, Shiah found other ways to learn about poetry. According to the multifaceted artist, the reason behind her desire to rhyme was found in Gashapon machines of all places--coin-operated vending machines that sell plastic "eggs" containing toy figures.
"At that time, I was so fascinated by the Gashapon, because you could never predict what you would get from it," Shiah explained, "For me, it was just like the experience of reading a poem." Therefore she had a crazy idea: to put what she loves most--poems--into Gashapon eggs.
Quick to convert the concept into reality, Shiah bought a second-hand Gashapon machine and started to create her unique poetry eggs. In each plastic bubble, she placed a short poem and a tiny gift related to the text's main idea, such as hand-made earrings and buttons. The project involved pieces from five poets, and more than 3,000 poetry eggs have been hatched to date. "Sometimes a good poem cannot stand out on its own, but after being highlighted, its beauty will show," Shiah said.
After this successful experiment, she continued to tinker with poetry delivery methods. This time, Shiah chose to conceal poems in matchboxes, which are rarely seen nowadays. According to the plan, each month has its corresponding poet, whose works are contained in the matchboxes handmade by Shiah according to the traditional Chinese calendar of festivals, she explained.
But in 2007, she decided to branch out from dreaming up creative ways to take poetry to the masses and began writing her own poems. After 19 of Shiah's efforts were published to good reviews in a newspaper supplement, she was inspired by the innovative style in which they were laid out and decided to further investigate the creative possibilities of seal-carving and movable type printing.
"When I made the Gashapon eggs and matchboxes, I carved a seal and stamped it on the back of the poem," Shiah recounted, "It was then that I discovered the joy of this traditional art." At the same time, the artist became deeply interested in the tradition of movable type.
Using aspects of both artistic methods, Shiah carved seals for each character that appears in her poems. "Traditional Chinese seal-carving requires calligraphy training, which I have never learned," she pointed out, "So, I just carved according to my own handwriting."
The process of carving these 1-centimeter-square seals was time consuming and demanded great skill, but the artist enjoyed every minute of it. "Working by hand does not necessarily equate with creativity, but compared to mass production, it represents another concept of time, lifestyle and economy, Shiah said. "We live in a society in which everything is produced so quickly," she added with a hint of nostalgia, "but for me, only if considerable time is spent creating the piece can it be considered valuable."
While traditional Chinese seal-carving only features characters and the Western tradition of engraving employs images, Shiah crossed over between the two worlds by blending words and pictures. "Carving words and pictures are the same things for me, because Chinese characters are pictures in essence," she said.
From writing, stamping, printing and bookbinding to publishing, Shiah takes care of every step of the process. To date, only a handful of independent bookstores have supported her efforts and carry the artist's books, but Shiah's reputation proved to be the best form of advertising. Without any promotion, the artist's poetry collection sold around 2,000 copies.
Shiah's pioneering idea of combining poetry and seal-carving has attracted great interest. In 2007, the host of the Taipei Poetry Festival suggested holding an event featuring the seals that she designed. "We picked 161 characters out of the seals I've used in my book, and people have to write poems with these words," Shiah said. "Although the organizer, United Daily News, only chose 10 poems to publish, I found out that many people write poems using my seals in their blogs," Excited by the thought of further fostering enthusiasm for poetry in Taiwanese society, Shiah decided to put all of these poems, numbering 151, together and publish the collection.
In this project, the maverick artist experimented with form again, creating a compilation that resembles a booklet of monthly train tickets. "I am fascinated by the idea of 'exchange' that is contained in train tickets" she stated, "Tearing one ticket in exchange for a trip--the action itself is poetic. This visual expression is in keeping with my mantra that books are meant to be read and to be used, not to just sit on bookshelves," Shiah added.
For the artist, books are not only testament to a writer's creativity, but should also invite reader participation. "A book is organic and a mark of time," Shiah said. "I want readers to record words or pictures on the pages, while leaving traces of their own."
By adopting such a fresh take on the world of publishing, Shiah has not only won the public's attention, but was selected as one of the nation's 10 literary stars by the Eslite Bookstore last year. Refusing to restrict herself to just one form, she explained that her current projects include a play and an essay column. "I am always in search of new things," she laughed.
If form is the object to change, then insistence on the handmade process and reflection on today's fast-paced lifestyle stand as pillars of Shiah's philosophy. Perhaps inside the softly spoken young artist is a soul far older than her years.
Write to Amber Wu at amber0207@mail.gio.gov.tw