Ishtar Hsu

Ishtar Hsu (1988, Taiwan) creates works in which materials are cut, torn, and reassembled into layered compositions. She often uses food and organic elements, embedding them in resin so that colours, textures, and forms become visible in new ways. What may first appear familiar, such as fruit or other ingredients, is altered through these processes and shown in close detail. The resin holds these elements in place while also distorting them, making their surfaces, folds, and structures more present. By working directly with the material in this way, Hsu shifts still life from a static image into something that shows change, pressure, and transformation.

Hsu’s practice is guided by a direct engagement with her materials. She does not aim to explain or fix meaning, but allows the work to develop through making. The acts of cutting and reconstructing reflect both tension and movement within the process. Her works bring together contrasting qualities such as attraction and discomfort, without resolving them. In doing so, she invites viewers to look closely and experience the work through its physical presence rather than through a single interpretation.