可見與不可見：House 17 的生態現象學

 

可見與不可見：House 17 的生態現象學

Island Reverence-III 島嶼禮讚 August 2026

Luchia Meihua Lee

「Island Reverence（島嶼禮讚）」並非將島嶼視為一座孤立的地理空間，而是理解它為一個持續生成的生命場域。在這裡，歷史、自然、生態、建築、城市與人的記憶彼此交織，形成一種不斷流動的關係。位於紐約總督島（Governors Island）Nolan Park 的 House 17，不只是展覽的場所，更成為感知與經驗生成的媒介，引領觀者透過身體的移動，在空間中經歷一連串可見與不可見之間的轉化。

本展受到法國哲學家梅洛–龐蒂（Maurice Merleau-Ponty）「身體知覺現象學（phenomenology of embodied perception）」及其生態思維的啟發。House 17 不再只是承載作品的容器，而是一座具有生命性的歷史建築。房間、窗戶、自然光線、木質地板，以及窗外的樹木與島嶼景觀，共同參與作品的生成與觀看。觀眾穿越不同空間的同時，也穿越了死亡與新生、城市與自然、身體與記憶、可見與不可見之間的界線。

走入第一展間，映入眼簾的是郭明哲的大型現地裝置 《Memento Mori：六呎之下的星空》。整個空間被深黑色包覆，牆面與天花板覆滿來自十九座紐約墓園的空拍墓碑圖像。原本象徵死亡的墓碑，被轉化為夜空中閃耀的星群。作品副標題 《六呎之下的星空》，提出了一個幾乎不可能的觀看視角──彷彿觀者正身處地下六呎，向上凝望天空。死亡因此不再只是生命的終點，而成為另一種能量與記憶持續流動的宇宙景觀。覆滿天花板的裝置，也令人聯想到米開朗基羅繪製西斯汀禮拜堂天頂畫的精神，只是這一次，被描繪的不再是天堂，而是由無數生命痕跡所構成的城市星空。

當觀者步入第二展間，感知立即產生劇烈轉換。黑暗退去，迎來侯忠穎 《草木有思》 所營造的明亮白色空間。植物纖維、樹皮、落葉與手工紙共同構成漂浮於空間中的裝置，自然光透過 House 17 的窗戶灑落其間，使作品隨著一天光線的變化而持續改變。遠看時，懸掛的紙張逐漸聚合成一枚巨大的指紋；走近之後，指紋卻再次瓦解為植物纖維、紙張肌理與手工製作留下的痕跡。人的身體印記與自然材料彼此交融，觀看也在圖像與物質之間不斷游移。從郭明哲地下墓園的黑暗宇宙，到侯忠穎充滿植物生命力的白色空間，House 17 的建築本身完成了一場從死亡走向再生、從沉寂走向生命循環的空間敘事。

Ricardo Woo 的 《QUE SERÁ SERÁ／Haja O Que Houver》 則將疫情期間創作的自畫像帶入 House 17 的早餐室。每件作品正反兩面分別呈現藝術家的肖像與骷髏，懸掛於空間之中，並透過歷史窗戶延伸至另一個房間。窗戶因此不再只是建築構件，而成為時間的門檻與鏡面，使生命與死亡、現在與未來、存在與消逝同時出現在同一視域。觀者隨著移動，不斷在肖像與骷髏之間切換觀看，也體會到身份並非固定，而是不斷流動與生成。

宋宜靜的 《無常》 與 《我們的地方》，則將展覽推向精神性的層次。作品援引地藏王菩薩的形象，並非傳統宗教圖像的再現，而是將慈悲、守護與輪迴轉化為對生命無常的當代表述。人物、色彩與空間彼此滲透，使身體與自然不再截然分離，也讓死亡成為另一種持續生成的存在方式。

展覽最後，林羿綺的 《島，即是土地》 將觀看由 House 17 延伸至更廣闊的世界。錄像投影、攝影影像與同步運作的雙時鐘，將紐約與臺灣兩座城市的時間與日常重疊於同一場域。港口、街道、海洋、人群與交通，在相隔十二小時的時區中彼此交錯。作品並非討論島嶼的疆界，而是揭示島嶼如何透過人的移動、記憶與生活經驗彼此連結。地理因此轉化為關係，距離也轉化為另一種親近。

縱觀整個展覽，每位藝術家都完成了一種「轉化」：郭明哲將墓碑化為星象的天空；侯忠穎將植物化為紙、紙化為指紋；Ricardo Woo 將肖像化為骷髏，窗戶化為時間的門檻；宋宜靜將宗教圖像化為對生命無常的沉思；林羿綺則將島嶼化為共同生活的土地。這些轉化並非只是作品所描繪的內容，而是觀者透過身體行走於 House 17 時親身經歷的感知過程。建築本身也因此成為作品的一部分，光線、空間、材料與人的身體共同參與意義的生成。

在 House 17 中，觀看本身成為作品的一部分。黑暗與光明、城市與自然、內部與外部、存在與缺席，皆隨著觀者的身體與感知不斷改變。那些看似不可見的事物並未真正消失，而是以痕跡、記憶、材料與能量的形式持續存在，並不斷開啟新的觀看方式。

「Island Reverence」最終所提出的，不只是對自然的敬畏，更是一種理解世界、棲居世界的方式。 House 17 讓我們體會，記憶、物質、建築、自然景觀與人的生命始終彼此交織。可見之物，總是在不可見之中逐漸生成；而每一座島嶼，也都因為這些持續流動、彼此依存的關係，而成為真正的生命共同體。

註釋

1. Maurice Merleau-Ponty（莫里斯・梅洛–龐蒂），Phenomenology of Perception（《知覺現象學》），Colin Smith 英譯（London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962；法文原版 Phénoménologie de la perception，1945）。本文所引用之「身體知覺（embodied perception）」概念，即源自梅洛–龐蒂對身體、知覺與世界關係的哲學論述。

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2. Maurice Merleau-Ponty（莫里斯・梅洛–龐蒂），The Visible and the Invisible（《可見與不可見》），Claude Lefort 編，Alphonso Lingis 英譯（Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1968），尤其參見〈The Intertwining—The Chiasm〉（〈交織──交錯〉）一章。本文標題「可見與不可見」即借用此書概念，探討知覺、身體與世界彼此交織的關係。

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3. 「生態現象學」（Ecophenomenology）為近代現象學的重要發展方向，將現象學對身體知覺的探討延伸至人與自然、生態環境及「超越人類世界」（the more-than-human world）之間的互動關係，強調知覺並非孤立的主體經驗，而是在環境與生命共同生成的過程中形成。

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4. 本文所討論之展覽為 2026 年 8 月 8 日至 9 月 13 日 於紐約總督島（Governors Island）Nolan Park House 17 舉辦之 Island Reverence 系列展覽，包括：

• Room 1
  《Memento Mori：六呎之下的星空》
  郭明哲（Ming-Jer Kuo）｜現地裝置新作展
• Room 2
  《草木有思》
  侯忠穎（Chung-Ying Hou）｜新作展
• Room 4
  《島，即是土地》
  林羿綺（Lin Yi-Chi）｜駐村藝術家個展
• Breakfast Room
  《QUE SERÁ SERÁ / Haja O Que Houver》
  Ricardo Woo
• Pantry Room
  《Our Place》
  宋宜靜（I-Chin Sung）。作品援引佛教地藏王菩薩意象，探討生命無常、守護與精神轉化。

5. House 17 為 Governors Island Arts Organizations in Residence 計畫之駐村空間，原建築建於十九世紀，屬 Nolan Park 歷史軍官住宅群。其歷史建築、自然環境與公共文化空間共同構成本展策展的重要場域。

6. 本文提出之「透過身體感知的轉化」（Transformation through Embodied Perception）為本展策展觀點，說明觀眾如何透過身體移動於 House 17 各展間之間，經歷由死亡至再生、由自然至文化、由物質至精神、由島嶼至共同生活世界等多重轉化，而非僅止於觀看個別作品。 

The Visible and the Invisible: An Ecophenomenology of House 17

 

The Visible and the Invisible: An Ecophenomenology of House 17

Island Reverence-III 2026

-by  Luchia Meihua Lee

 

Island Reverence explores the island not simply as a geographical place, but as a living ecology where history, memory, nature, architecture, and human experience continually shape one another. Situated within the historic setting of House 17 on Governors Island, the August exhibitions invite visitors to experience the island through movement, perception, and material transformation.

Inspired by Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of embodied perception and its ecological resonance, the exhibition transforms House 17 into an experiential landscape where nature and city, body and memory, life and death, and the visible and invisible become intertwined. The nineteenth-century house is not merely a container for artworks; its rooms, windows, changing daylight, wooden floors, and surrounding landscape actively shape how each work is encountered. Walking through House 17 becomes an embodied journey in which perception itself is continually transformed.

Visitors first enter Ming-Jer Kuo's Memento Mori: Starry Night from Six Feet Under, a site-specific installation that envelops the entire room in darkness. Large-scale vinyl images derived from aerial surveys of nineteen New York City cemeteries extend across the walls and ceiling, transforming individual tombstones into luminous constellations. The subtitle, Starry Night from Six Feet Under, proposes an impossible yet poetic point of view—as though viewers were looking upward from beneath the earth. Rather than presenting memento mori simply as a reminder of death, Kuo transforms mortality into a cosmic landscape where memory, matter, and energy continue beyond physical life. The monumental installation recalls the immersive ambition of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, yet here the heavens are reimagined through the quiet geometry of cemeteries, where the traces of human lives shimmer as stars.

Moving into Room 2, visitors experience an immediate sensory transformation. Darkness gives way to light as Chung-Ying Hou's Botanical Thinking unfolds within a luminous environment of handmade paper, plant fibers, bark, leaves, and natural light. Rather than representing nature, Hou allows natural materials themselves to become collaborators in the making of the artwork. Suspended sheets of handmade paper filter the daylight entering through House 17's historic windows, subtly changing throughout the day. Seen from a distance, the installation gradually forms the image of a giant fingerprint; as visitors move closer, the image dissolves into fibers, textures, and traces of the papermaking process. Human identity emerges from—and returns to—the material world. The architectural transition from Kuo's black cemetery cosmos to Hou's bright botanical landscape becomes a passage from mortality toward regeneration, where nature is understood not as background but as a living process of continual transformation.

The journey continues through Ricardo Woo's QUE SERÁ SERÁ / Haja O Que Houver, a series of self-portraits created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each painting presents two identities: on one side the artist's living face, on the reverse a skeletal self-portrait. Suspended throughout the breakfast room, the portraits interact with House 17's historic windows, where the skulls emerge through the panes like ghostly reflections. The windows become temporal thresholds rather than architectural boundaries, allowing life and death, presence and absence, past and future to occupy the same visual field. As viewers move through the installation, portraits continually reveal and conceal their skeletal counterparts, reminding us that identity itself remains fluid and continually becoming.

This dialogue between the visible and invisible extends into I-Chin Sung's Impermanence and Our Place. Drawing upon the image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, the guardian who accompanies beings through the realms between life and death, Sung transforms traditional Buddhist iconography into a contemporary meditation on impermanence. Radiant colors dissolve the distinction between body and landscape, suggesting that transformation is not disappearance but continuous becoming. Mortality is answered not with finality, but with compassion, spiritual continuity, and renewal.

The exhibition concludes with Yi-Chi Lin's Island Is Land, which expands the exhibition beyond the architecture of House 17 toward a broader geography of movement and belonging. Through layered video projections, photography, and synchronized clocks, everyday images from Taiwan and New York unfold within a shared temporal field. Harbors, streets, commuters, conversations, and seascapes intersect across a twelve-hour time difference. Rather than presenting islands as isolated territories, Lin reveals them as places connected through migration, memory, labor, and everyday life. Geography becomes relationship, and distance becomes another form of proximity.

Throughout House 17, each artist transforms one condition of existence into another. Tombstones become constellations. Plants become paper; paper becomes fingerprints. Portraits become skeletons, while windows become temporal thresholds. Religious iconography becomes a meditation on impermanence. Islands become lived places connected across time and distance. These transformations are not simply represented; they unfold through the embodied movement of visitors as they pass from room to room. The architecture of House 17 itself becomes an active collaborator, shaping the experience through light, space, material, and memory.

Moving through House 17 thus becomes part of the artwork. Darkness and light, city and nature, interior and exterior, presence and absence continually shift with our bodies and perceptions. What becomes invisible does not disappear; it leaves traces, transforms, and opens new possibilities for seeing and inhabiting the world.

Ultimately, Island Reverence proposes that reverence is not only an attitude toward nature but a way of dwelling within the world. Through the embodied journey of House 17, visitors encounter an ecology of transformation in which memory, matter, architecture, landscape, and human experience remain inseparable. The visible continually emerges from the invisible, reminding us that every place—and every island—is sustained by relationships extending far beyond what we can immediately see.

Footnotes

1. Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, trans. Colin Smith (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962; originally published as Phénoménologie de la perception, Paris: Gallimard, 1945). This essay draws upon Merleau-Ponty's concept of embodied perception, which understands the body not as an object in space but as the primary means through which the world is experienced.

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2. Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible, ed. Claude Lefort, trans. Alphonso Lingis (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1968), especially "The Intertwining—The Chiasm." The title of this essay echoes Merleau-Ponty's unfinished philosophical project, which explores the reciprocal relationship between the visible world and the invisible structures of perception.

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3. The term ecophenomenology refers to philosophical approaches that extend phenomenology toward ecological experience, emphasizing embodied relationships between human beings, place, landscape, and the more-than-human world. See David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World (New York: Vintage Books, 1996).

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4. Island Reverence was presented at TAAC House 17, Nolan Park, Governors Island, New York, from August 8 to September 13, 2026. The exhibition included:

• Room 1

Memento Mori: Starry Night from Six Feet Under
A New Site-Specific Installation Project
Ming-Jer Kuo

• Room 2

Botanical Thinking
New Works Exhibition
Chung-Ying Hou

• Room 4

Island Is Land
Artist Residency Exhibition
Lin Yi-Chi

• Breakfast Room

QUE SERÁ SERÁ / Haja O Que Houver
Ricardo Woo

• Pantry Room

Our Place
I-Chin Sung

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5. House 17 is located within Nolan Park on Governors Island, a nineteenth-century military officers' residential district that has been transformed into a public cultural campus. As part of the annual Governors Island Arts Organizations in Residence program, the historic architecture, natural landscape, and changing daylight form an integral component of the exhibition's curatorial framework.

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6. The curatorial concept of "transformation through embodied perception" proposed in this essay describes the experiential sequence created by moving through House 17. Rather than presenting isolated artworks, the exhibition invites visitors to encounter successive transformations: tombstones become constellations; plants become paper, and paper becomes fingerprints; portraits become skeletons while windows become temporal thresholds; religious iconography becomes a meditation on impermanence; and islands become shared places of lived experience.

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Selected Bibliography

Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World. New York: Vintage Books, 1996.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. Translated by Colin Smith. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The Visible and the Invisible. Edited by Claude Lefort. Translated by Alphonso Lingis. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1968.
Ingold, Tim. Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. London: Routledge, 2011.
Ingold, Tim. The Life of Lines. London: Routledge, 2015.

Image Left-Room 1: Ming-Jer Kuo

image Right-Room 2: Chung-Ying Hou

Performance: Sound by Mike Lin, Dance by Poyu Huang

 Dancer: Poyu Huang Performance on August 8 and 15

Ricardo Woo:  QUE SERÁ SERÁ / Haja O Que Houver

Yi-Chi Lin: Island is Land

I-Chin Sung: Our place

House 17, Nolan Park, Governors Island, NYC

我的人生像是一條在不同島嶼之間穿梭的文化航線 My Life Is a Cultural Cartographic Line-— Moving between islands,

 我的人生像是一條 文化地理線 My Life Is a Cultural Cartographic Line-— Moving between islands

=在不同島嶼之間穿梭, 在不同地理空間中，重組身份、記憶與責任。


這是「回望」與「對話」， 今年春天的一小段感想, 一個是對社會，一個是對自己。

「回望」：旅居在紐約三十年，我始終在思考：我回顧這些年，
我最感到真正有價值的，不是一次性的光芒, 並不是某一個展覽、某一場活動，
而是——我為台灣建立了一座長期存在的橋,
為台灣，在國際文化藝術地圖上，多畫了一條線。

我從台灣出發，到愛爾蘭念藝術史，後來在紐約生活三十年。
一路走來，好像一直在不同城市之間移動。
但後來我才明白，我不是在「移動」，我是在「連結」。
把台灣介紹給世界，也把世界帶回台灣。
讓藝術家被看見，讓文化有對話的空間、讓文化被理解、讓社群彼此連結的平台。
從成為獨立策展人開始，到2014年創立 TAAC，到 2022進駐Governors Island 的4期計畫，
無數藝術家、學者、年輕實習生參與其中, 不是我做了什麼，而是這個平台讓更多人可以一起做。如果說我留下了一件值得思考的事，那就是建立了一座橋—一個讓人可以持續往返的橋，而不是一次性的交流。

我希望當人們提起台灣時，不只是科技或政治，也能想到文化、藝術、溫柔與深度。
有時候飛機坐太多，真的會懷疑自己到底住在哪裡，但後來發現，我其實住在「文化藝術之間」。

妳不是只「代表台灣」，妳也在重新定義台灣如何被觀看。
妳不是只「住在紐約」，妳在紐約建立了一個台灣文化的節點。
所以我說——妳的人生不是定點，是連線。

 

如果我能回到 18 歲的自己面前，‘’我會跟那個有點焦慮、急著證明自己的女孩說：「不要急。
你的人生不需要跟任何人比較. 那時候的我們，總想證明自己，想要快一點成功，快一點被看見。

但其實，真正重要的不是速度，而是方向。我會告訴她—有一天，你會在異鄉建立屬於自己的文化家園；你會離開家鄉很遠，但你會用自己的方式，把家鄉帶在身上。你會理解，離開其實不是失去，而是另一種回望。也會告訴她，不要太苛責自己。你已經比自己想像的更勇敢。


現在回頭看，我很感謝那個 18 歲的自己，願意走出來。

也感謝一路上陪我走這段「文化航線」的朋友們。

My Life Is a Cultural Cartographic Line

— Moving between islands,
reassembling identity, memory, and responsibility across different geographies.

This is a moment of “looking back” and “dialogue”—a brief reflection from this spring.
One part is addressed to society; the other, to myself.

Looking Back

Having lived in New York for thirty years, I often ask myself:
When I look back on these decades, what feels truly meaningful?

It is not a fleeting moment of brilliance—
not a single exhibition, nor one particular event.

Rather, it is this:
I helped build a bridge for Taiwan that continues to stand.
I helped draw one more line for Taiwan on the international cultural map.

I began in Taiwan, went to Ireland to study art history, and eventually made my life in New York.
For many years, it seemed as though I was simply moving from city to city.
But later I understood — I was not “moving.” I was connecting.

Introducing Taiwan to the world, and bringing the world back to Taiwan.
Creating spaces where artists can be seen,
where cultures can enter into dialogue,
where understanding can take root,
and where communities can connect.

From becoming an independent curator,
to founding TAAC in 2014,
to launching four program cycles on Governors Island beginning in 2022 —
countless artists, scholars, and young interns have participated.

It was never about what I alone accomplished.
It was about building a platform where many could work together.

If there is one thing I have left behind that is worth reflecting on,
it is this bridge —
a bridge people can cross back and forth,
not a one-time exchange.

When people speak of Taiwan, I hope they think not only of technology or politics,
but also of culture, art, tenderness, and depth.

Sometimes, after too many flights, I question where I truly live.
But I eventually realized —
I live between cultures and art.

You are not only “representing Taiwan.”
You are redefining how Taiwan is seen.

You are not simply “living in New York.”
You have created a node of Taiwanese culture within New York.

So I say —
your life is not a fixed point;
it is a network of connections.

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If I Could Speak to My 18-Year-Old Self

If I could stand before that slightly anxious girl, eager to prove herself,
I would say: Don’t rush.

Your life does not need to be measured against anyone else’s.

At that age, we always wanted to prove ourselves —
to succeed quickly, to be seen quickly.

But what truly matters is not speed.
It is direction.

I would tell her:
One day, you will build your own cultural home in a distant land.
You will travel far from your birthplace,
yet you will carry it with you in your own way.

You will come to understand that leaving is not losing —
it is another way of looking back.

And I would tell her not to be so hard on herself.
You are already braver than you think.

Now, when I look back,
I am grateful to that 18-year-old self for having the courage to step forward.

And I am grateful to all the friends who have traveled this “cultural route” with me.

images: 2026 January in Argentina and NYC snow days

 snowflakes

2026 January Argentina Trip (southern hemisphere )

In Memory of Patsy Chen — A Beloved Sister in Art and Community 「緬懷秀蓉姐——我們敬愛的藝術與社群姊妹」

IIn Memory of Patsy Chen — A Beloved Sister in Art and Community

「緬懷秀蓉姐——我們敬愛的藝術與社群姊妹」

我們早已習慣在各個社區與文藝活動的現場看見秀蓉姐，與她親切地談天問好。如今這樣的身影驟然缺席，突如其來的失落與心痛，讓人一時難以面對。

作為台美文藝協會（TAAC）深受敬重的董事會成員之一，我謹代表 TAAC 的藝術家們，懷著深切的感恩與追思之情，緬懷 秀蓉姐（方秀蓉，Patsy Chen） 的一生，以及她所留下的珍貴精神。秀蓉姐長年支持藝術、無私付出，始終以溫柔而堅定的力量扶持無數藝術家。她總是樂於助人，深度投入台灣社區事務，並積極推動與支持各項文化與藝術活動。她對藝術與社群的熱忱與承諾，深深影響了許多人的生命。秀蓉姐的溫暖、慷慨，以及對藝術力量的堅定信念，將永遠被我們銘記與珍惜。

對我個人而言，秀蓉姐始終是一位溫暖而堅定的存在。最後一次見到秀蓉姐，是在 2025 年 10 月 29 日的大紐約 Girl Scouts 榮譽早餐會。當天，她真誠地鼓勵我，也全力支持這項活動，並支持藝術家們一同參與，讓我深受感動。我們也留下了許多珍貴的合影，成為我心中永遠珍藏的回憶。

更早之前，在 10 月 10 日的台灣國慶晚會 上，秀蓉姐依然一如往常地熱情親切，與我們合影留念。當時我們並不知道，那些溫暖的相聚，會如此深刻地留在心中。

更早之前，秀蓉姐曾邀請我參與 PPSEAWA New York Chapter（泛太平洋暨東南亞婦女協會紐約分會） 的活動，在聯合國廣場與多位女性領袖交流。她在其中始終積極投入，樂於參與討論，也不遺餘力地串連彼此、促進交流，讓人深刻感受到她對社群與公共事務的熱情。

在藝術活動中，秀蓉姐同樣以一貫的專注與耐心陪伴。2017 年，她特地前往布魯克林 Pfizer Building，參與「大船入港」《Fully Loaded》計畫中的子活動《 Roses Loaded》，靜靜地觀展、聆聽座談與演出，給予藝術家最真誠的回應。2019 年「都會部落 《Urban Tribes》」系列展覽開幕時，她也親臨現場，細細閱讀作品與說明文字，攝影師捕捉到她專注凝視作品的身影，那份深度觀看令人動容。

在音樂領域，透過 New York Youth Orchestra 的年度音樂會，我們多次齊聚林肯中心，欣賞年輕世代精緻而動人的演出；在 Queens Orchestra 的音樂會中，也常見秀蓉姐活躍的身影，讓我們得以一同沉浸於高品質的音樂饗宴。這些與她共享藝術與音樂的時光，至今仍歷歷在目，難以忘懷。

秀蓉姐每次見到 Ken Howell，總是溫柔而真誠地問候，給予鼓勵與祝福。Ken 非常想念她，也一直記得她曾對他說過的那些溫暖而美好的話語。秀蓉姐的善良、體貼與真心關懷，早已深深留在我們心中，成為永遠不會消失的記憶。

—— 李美華 Luchia Meihua Lee
台美文藝協會（TAAC）執行長

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In Memory of Patsy Chen — A Beloved Sister in Art and Community

We had grown accustomed to seeing Patsy at community gatherings and cultural events, always greeting others with warmth and kindness. Her sudden absence brings a profound sense of loss and heartache that is difficult to comprehend.

As a deeply respected board member of the Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC), and on behalf of the artists of TAAC, I offer my heartfelt gratitude and remembrance as we honor the life and enduring spirit of Xiurong Jie (Fang Xiurong, Patsy Chen). For many years, Patsy devoted herself selflessly to supporting the arts, nurturing countless artists with her gentle yet steadfast encouragement. She was always ready to help others, deeply engaged in Taiwanese community affairs, and actively involved in supporting and promoting cultural and artistic events. Her dedication to the arts and to community building touched many lives, and her warmth, generosity, and unwavering belief in the power of art will always be remembered and cherished.

On a personal level, Patsy was a constant source of warmth and strength in my life. The last time I saw Patsy was at the Girl Scouts of Greater New York Honor Breakfast on October 29, 2025. That morning, she offered me sincere encouragement and wholeheartedly supported the event, as well as the participation of the artists. We took many wonderful photos together, which have now become deeply treasured memories.

Earlier that month, at the October 10 Taiwan National Day celebration, Patsy greeted everyone with her usual kindness and warmth. At the time, we did not yet realize how precious those moments would become.

Even earlier on, Patsy invited me to participate in Pan-Pacific & South East Asia Women’s Association – New York Chapter (PPSEAWA-NY,) where we met many women leaders at the United Nations Plaza. She was always deeply engaged—actively participating, generously connecting people, and making genuine efforts to build relationships across communities. Her presence reflected a sincere commitment to dialogue, leadership, and collective support.

In the arts, Patsy showed the same attentiveness and care. In 2017, she came to the Pfizer Building in Brooklyn to attend One Afternoon, a sub-event of the Fully Loaded project, patiently observing the exhibition, listening to the talks, and watching the performances with quiet focus. At the opening of the Urban Tribes exhibition series in 2019, she again attended with great care, thoughtfully reading the artworks and wall texts. A photograph captured her in deep contemplation—an image that beautifully reflects how seriously and respectfully she engaged with art.

Through the annual concerts of the New York Youth Orchestra, we were often together at Lincoln Center, enjoying the refined and moving performances of a younger generation of musicians. She was also actively involved with the Queens Orchestra, where we shared many memorable evenings of outstanding music. These moments—shared through art and music—remain vivid and unforgettable.

Patsy was always especially kind to Ken Howell, greeting him with genuine warmth and encouragement whenever they met. Ken misses her dearly and often recalls the thoughtful and caring words she shared with him. Patsy’s compassion, generosity, and sincere care live on in our hearts, becoming memories that will never fade.

— Luchia Meihua Lee
Executive Director, Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC)