A Nantou-based artist creates painting materials from collected soil samples

Nantou artist Hung Hao-lun has found a way to depict his home using elements of the land itself. His process involves using different soils from around the country to produce different hues, and produce art. Hung learned to appreciate art from his father, who is a temple painter, but Hung’s own artwork is in a style that’s uniquely his. Now he is teaching his techniques to young people in the hope of seeing his art style get passed on. Tonight in our Sunday special report, we follow Hung to the outdoors where he gathers materials, and to his workshop where he creates his unique art.

At Maoluo River, where Nantou and Changhua counties meet, an artist draped in a soil-colored jacket walks toward the water, buckets in hand.

Hung Hao-lun
Artist
We usually push aside the topsoil, and then dig down about 15 to 20 centimeters to dig out the clean soil. In the past, I traveled around Taiwan proper and the outlying islands to collect soil, rock, and ore samples. Altogether I have nearly 100 different colored samples. Worldwide there are a total of 12 different soil classes, and we have 11 of them in Taiwan.

To most people, soil is only used for planting things and for water retention. However, for artist Hung Hao-lun, soil is also a material for making art.

This painting by Hung titled Zhuoshui River perfectly captures the fierceness of that river’s windy shores, where sand is blown about in the air. The work’s materials lend to its immersiveness.

Hung Hao-lun
Artist
There are many pieces of shale and slate in the Zhuoshui River. I left them in there on purpose to give it different textures. There are coarse, fine, and extremely fine textures in there.

So how do soil and art become one in Hung’s hands? Watch as he begins to work his magic.

After the organic matter and the large particles in the soil are separated layer by layer through sieving, a beautiful dark green begins to emerge. However, in this muddy state, the soil is not yet ready to be used for art.

Hung Hao-lun
Artist
After a bit of time it starts to settle, and then you can extract the finer parts.

Hung Hao-lun
Artist
With each bucket it gets finer. This here is coarser, and you can feel the grains. This one is finer, and so it doesn’t have that grainy feeling to it. It doesn’t get carried off by the water. I’ll just let it settle, and then pour off the top layer of water. That will leave a colored paste, which will turn into a powder after it dries. We can then use that powder for painting.

Following Hung into his workshop, we see pastes and powders in various colors, all extracted from soil. Each color has a story behind it for Hung.

Hung Hao-lun
Artist
This one from Puli is really beautiful. This is the closest one in my collection to the soil in France. What makes it so precious is that it can’t be collected again. Firstly, there are legal limitations involved, and secondly, where I dug it up was an empty plot at the time, which now has a building on it. This one here is a white clay from Kinmen. This one was also collected from an empty plot.

However, turning soil into colored powder to be used for painting involves a degree of effort, and it’s not something just anyone can do.

Hung Hao-lun
Artist
The ability to make painting material from soil is all in the actions. It’s like making stir-fried ice cream. You have to make the material uniform, and in essence it involves pressing different substances together. After you press it, it still has some graininess to it. You then use a pestle and a scraper, and concentrate the mixture in one spot, pushing it all toward the middle. It will make less and less sound, and get increasingly smoother. In the end it will have a somewhat bouncier feel to it.

Hung’s sensitivity toward art first took root during his childhood.

San Xuan Temple in Nantou County is where Hung Hao-lun first learned about art. His father, Hung Shu-tung, is the temple’s resident artist, and was also Hung Hao-lun’s first teacher.

Hung Shu-tung
Hung Hao-lun’s father
In the past, I did all the painting in the temple, like the color here under the eaves.

Hung Hao-lun
Artist
There are some paintings of clothing, gradated clothing of deities, as well as gradated clouds, some of which I painted as well.

Hung Hao-lun learned from his father that to be a good artist, he had to learn to do a variety of tasks, which motivated him to learn how to make his own painting materials.

Hung Hao-lun
Artist
Although I studied Western painting and oil painting in school, during my studies I would often reflect on my identity, and my work at the temple with my father. I thought about how we painted traditional subjects, and questioned our use of mainstream painting