Waves undulating in the distance are waves because that’s the name we have learned in a textbook; therefore, they are called waves. But is this so? Why do I think it is the hair of Gaia gently rippling?” Chu Fang-Yi, an expert at using ceramics as a medium for his creative work and who also has made a practice of observing the structure underlying objects, symbols, memories, and images over the years, thinks “image readings” are not done to obtain information about the images themselves but to absorb the poetic quality and essential soul of the images through instinctive perception. He tries to discover other possibilities in image readings not bound by cultural restrictions and frameworks.

From the ancient times until now, the physical expression of the human perception of images has accumulated until it has itself become an interactive communicative medium. Instinct intrudes itself into the cognitive perceptions of the human mind to make a continuous interpretative identification which “grows” from subconscious feelings. The ability of humans to read and envision images has always existed; however, forms of expression and the significance of imagery are subject to social values and, as a result, the scope of image cognition has become more standardized and narrower. People have even lost the ability to conceptualize and feel moved by images. Chu Fang-Yi hopes to use image reading to help people become aware of the reading instinct hidden deep down inside all of us.