Taiwanese American Arts Council

House 17 Nolan Park, Governors Island, New York

Saturday June 20 11am-5pm

🎨 11:00 AM–5:00 PM | Open House, Open Studios & Exhibition Tour

🎭 2:30 PM | The Language of Masks: Inspired by Taiwan's Bajiajiang Tradition

Join studio artist Chia-Che Tsou for an interactive mask-painting workshop.

🥂 4:00 PM | Island Reverence—Chapter One Closing Reception

Join us in celebrating the conclusion of the first chapter of Island Reverence: Art, Ecology, and Community. Light snacks and refreshments will be served.

📍 TAAC House 17, Nolan Park, Governors Island

✨ Free and open to the public. All ages are welcome.

Saturday June 20 2:30pm

The Language of Masks Workshop lead by Chia-Che Tsou

Masks have been used around the world—in Taiwanese temple festivals, African ceremonies, Indigenous traditions, Venetian Carnival, Japanese Noh theater, and contemporary performance art. The workshop explores how masks express identity, spirituality, storytelling, protection, and transformation.

Participants create a mask inspired by the colors and forms of Bajiajiang(八家將), while also reflecting on their own cultural memories and personal symbolism.

Sunday June 21st 3PM

E.T. XYZ ENCOUNTERS HUMAN KIND Performance Ricardo Woo

EXTRA TERRESTRIAL XYZ encounters humans and expresses his feelings and acknowledges human kind.

🎭 3:00 PM | Join studio artist E.T. XYZ ENCOUNTERS HUMAN KIND

EXTRA TERRESTRIAL XYZ encounters humans and expresses his feelings and acknowledges human kind. With Surprising interactive element.

🎨 11:00 AM–5:00 PM | Open House, Open Studios & Exhibition Tour

🥂 4:00 PM | Island Reverence—Chapter One Closing tour

Join us in celebrating the conclusion of the first chapter of Island Reverence: Art, Ecology, and Community.

Mark your calendar

June 27 to July 18 - Solo Exhibitions and special projects:

Room 2: Chia-Che Tsou
Room 3: Dena Paige Fischer
Room 4: Leon Chuang
Selected Island Reverence pieces: Nikolina Kovalenko, Sarah Walko, Su-Min Yang, Peilin Hsu, I-Chin Sung, Danny Amazonas Liu, Ricardo Woo

2026 Island Reverence-I

A year of Art, Ecology, and Community

◢ | May 16 – June 21, 2026

◢ | House 17, Nolan Park, Governors Island

Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC) is pleased to announce Island Reverence: Art, Ecology, and Community, its 2026 seasonal art program and exhibition series presented at TAAC House 17 in Nolan Park on Governors Island, New York. The first phase of exhibitions and public programs will run from May 16 through June 21, 2026, featuring thematic exhibitions, artist residencies, open studios, workshops, and performances by artists from Taiwan, New York, and international communities.

Bringing together over twenty artists of diverse cultural backgrounds, Island Reverence examines the interconnected relationships between islands, ecology, migration, ritual, history, and community. The first-floor galleries will present thematic exhibitions, while the second floor will function as an active artist residency and open studio environment.

The concept of “Island Reverence” approaches the island not merely as a geographic location, but as a living cultural and ecological landscape shaped by layered histories, environmental transformation, and collective imagination. Governors Island—once a military site and now an evolving public cultural space—becomes a point of dialogue with Taiwan, another island marked by complex histories of migration, colonial memory, democratic transformation, and oceanic identity.

Chia-Che Tsou 鄒佳哲

(image at right) Vanishing Terrain, 2025. Oil on Canvas, 36 x 28.5 inches

(opening image - above) Through the Gate of Ritual, 2025, Oil On canvas, 24 x 20 inches

In Vanishing Terrain and Through the Gate of Ritual, the artist explores Taiwanese cultural identity, spirituality, through imagery drawn from folk belief, Indigenous culture, and ceremonial traditions. Moving beyond representations of folklore, the works reflect on land, ancestral memory, gratitude, and communal belief systems as lived cultural experiences, while sharing stories of Taiwan’s island culture with global audiences.

Chia-Che Tsou is a Taiwanese contemporary artist whose interdisciplinary background in engineering, law, and fine arts informs a reflective and psychologically nuanced artistic practice.

Solo Exhibition: June 27 to August 2, 2026 at house 17.

Jeremiah Teipen

At the dawn of civilization, caves provided spaces for humans to develop both visual and sonic creation. Anthropopocalypse imagines a cave at the dusk of human civilization: an environment constructed from the non-recyclable packaging materials of online commerce, the physical residue of a consumption economy that has rendered the outside world uninhabitable. In this space of last refuge, viewers can interact with the stalactites and stalagmites to create generative sounds and simple volumetric 3D models called "primitives," and animated drawings become the cave paintings of this imagined future.

image: installation view of Anthropopocalypse， 2026

14 feet 4 inches x 16 feet 5 inches x 10 feet 10 inches

Three-channel video, interactive components, lighting, sound, packaging materials

Dena Paige Fischer creates interactive sculptures and tactile tools that explore the body, subconscious, and sensory perception through movement and material experimentation. Blending natural and industrial materials, her works invite intuitive and meditative engagement.

solo exhibition: June 27-August 2, 2026 at house 17

Chih-Hui Chuang

莊志輝

"Forest Resonance" by Chih-Hui Chuang, was created from the trunk of a dried tree from Crystal Park. The oak tree - given a second life through art - as sculpture evokes the spirit of the forest and the healing energy of nature. Inspired by the concept of phytoncides—the natural compounds released by trees that refresh the body and revive the spirit—Forest Resonance invites viewers to reconnect with the vitality of the natural world.

Now on view at TAAC House 17, Nolan Park, Governors Island, New York City.

(image above) Island Affection 35.4 × 43.3 in. Acrylic on canvas 2026

Chuang Chih-Hui's paintings and sculptures explore the relationship between nature, memory, spirituality, and the inner mind through imagery of stars, rivers, spirals, and flowing forms. Blending surrealist and cubist influences with Buddhist philosophy, his work reflects on transformation and the cycles of existence. Chuang has exhibited internationally across Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Searching for Forgotten Memories

26.4 × 11.8 × 3.5 in

Reclaimed wood, acrylic, iron nails, metal scraper

2025

Nikolina Kovalenko

Hazy Moon, 2023. Oil on Canvas, 50 x 50 inches

Eye Contact, 2023. Oil On canvas, 50 x 50 inches

Nikolina Kovalenko’s Hazy Moon and astronaut portrait create a poetic dialogue between cosmic mystery and human consciousness, exploring the tension between isolation and exploration, dream and reality, and humanity’s relationship with the unknown universe. Installed together, the works reflect the artist’s ongoing interest in transformation, perception, and interconnectedness, resonating with the theme Island Reverence through their meditative and otherworldly atmosphere. Kovalenko is a Brooklyn-based painter known for her immersive coral reef paintings and multidimensional portraiture exploring environmental awareness and the relationship between humans and nature.

Danny Amazonas Liu, is a Taiwanese fiber artist with a background in oil painting, floral design, and mosaic art. His signature "Freehand Patchwork" technique, developed in 2012, transforms fabric collage into an expressive and highly personal art form. In Door Keeper / Door God, Liu draws inspiration from traditional Asian guardian figures, reimagining them as contemporary symbols of protection, transition, and welcome. Positioned at the threshold, the work invites visitors to pause and reflect as they move between spaces, cultures, and states of mind, serving as a guardian of imagination, community, and cultural exchange.

I-Chin Sung explores themes of memory, spirituality, healing, and emotional experience through atmospheric paintings and mixed media works influenced by Zen Buddhism and the Diamond Sutra. Incorporating flowing forms, handwritten journal fragments, and recurring images of Guanyin Bodhisattva, her work reflects on interconnectedness, impermanence, and contemplation, resonating with the theme Island Reverence.

Wildriana Paulino

is a Dominican-born artist based in Manhattan whose practice explores femininity, nature, and transformation through installation, sculpture, drawing, and printmaking. Influenced by her family’s cacao farming heritage and her grandmother’s care for the land, Paulino reimagines cacao and native Dominican plants as living bodies that honor female labor, resilience, and interconnectedness with the environment.

Eun Young Choi’s wall-based installations combine hand-cut vinyl and mylar to create delicate, immersive environments inspired by botanical forms, marine life, and microscopic organisms. Through layered silhouettes and fluid patterns, her works evoke the fragility and resilience of nature while suggesting connections between memory, migration, and imagination.

Sarah Walko creates sculptural assemblages from found and everyday materials, transforming driftwood, shells, stones, and discarded objects into poetic forms that evoke ritual, memory, and ecological interconnectedness. Resonating with the theme Island Reverence, her works reflect on humanity’s relationship with nature, transformation, and the hidden narratives embedded within objects. Walko is a New York–based artist, curator, and writer whose multidisciplinary practice explores materiality, ritual, and environmental awareness.

image: Shores and Shields, Hand to Hand, Land to Land (How most of the dreams go, eight-foot wingspan, black, with a red neck like a wound or a hidden treasure, generously tapping one another's deeply forked tail or plumage, all the nests glistening with salt air.) 2025. Mixed Media Sculpture

Sarah Walko, Shores and Shields, Hand to Hand, Land to Land (What to grab ahold of when the waters rise.)

Mixed Media Sculpture, 2025

Nikolina Kovalenko,

She Who Rises, 2023.

Oil on wood Panel, 20 x16 inches

Nina Edwards Her From Island to Island series was created during her 2023 residency with the Taiwanese American Arts Council on Governors Island, exploring the intertwined colonial histories of New York and Taiwan through fashion imagery, cultural symbolism, and historical references. Works such as Dutch Island Whispers and Dutch Explorer with Hakka Spirit reflect on migration, memory, identity, and cross-cultural exchange, in consonance with the theme Island Reverence. Edwards is an award-winning fashion illustrator, graphic designer, and curator whose work blends Eastern and Western visual traditions through both digital and watercolor techniques.

Kyunglim Lee makes three dimensional paper paintings and sculptures from recycled corrugated cardboard, acrylics, and resin. The cardboard, with a surface of winding symmetrical curves, recalls its use as a reliable packaging material, and now that it has quietly finished its role in transporting produced goods, is given new life in art. Lee has exhibited widely, both in South Korea and abroad.

on the train, 2024

25 x 20 inches

Mixed Media (acrylic on corrugated cardboard, resin coating)

Ricardo Woo

Our Everyone Our Everytree

A site-specific installation with live portraits, tree painting, and drawing performance. Through a large-scale tree painting and live portrait sessions, Ricardo Woo creates an evolving installation that invites public participation. As portraits are added, the “mother tree” becomes a symbol of interconnectedness, community, and our shared relationship with nature. Blending painting, performance, and audience engagement, the project reflects on coexistence, collective memory, and environmental responsibility.

image: Installation view-house 17

Julia Hsia, Breath Break, 2026. Mixed media site-specific installation. Signal channel video and interactive performance

Breath Break explores the relationship between nature and human society, reflecting on how contemporary life distances people from the environment through rapid development and overwhelming flows of information. Covered with layers of newspaper and pierced by protruding wooden sticks, the installation suggests both obstruction and the urgent need to breathe. Through performance and movement, Hsia invites audiences to slow down, take a “breath break,” and reconnect with their surroundings and ecological awareness.

Studio Artists at TAAC House 17

Studio 1: Chia-Che Tsou

Studio 2: I-Chin Sung

Studio 3: Dena Paige Fischer

Studio 4: Chih-Chui Chuang/Su-Min Yang

Studio 5: Peilin Hsu

Take this opportunity to meet the artists, learn about their creative processes, and gain insight into the concepts behind their work. When you visit House 17, be sure to explore the second-floor studios and engage in conversation with the artists. We look forward to welcoming you!

Open Studio, Saturday and Sunday, : 11 AM–5 PM or by appointment

TAAC House 17, Nolan Park, Governors Island

Studio 1: Chia-Che Tsou

Dena Paige Fischer

Studio 2: I-Chin Sung

Studio 4: Chih-Chui Chuang and Su-MinYang

Studio 5: Peilin Hsu

artists Group

TAAC: 10 Years and Counting

A Journey Through Art

— Book Release

As this publication reflects upon ten years of exhibitions, residencies, institutional partnerships, and community engagement, it also situates TAAC within broader shifts in the art environments of both Taiwan and New York. Through the curatorial journey and career transitions of Luchia Meihua Lee—from museum leadership and cultural diplomacy to the founding of TAAC—the book traces the evolving networks, artistic movements, and diasporic flows that have shaped Taiwanese, Asian, and Chinese art communities across transnational contexts.

Extending back to the artistic climate of the 1970s and moving toward TAAC’s establishment in 2014 and its continued development, TAAC：10 Years and Counting documents not only programs and milestones, but also the changing cultural geography of contemporary art. It observes how Taiwanese art has evolved within Taiwan’s own shifting social and institutional landscape, while simultaneously examining its dialogue with New York’s multicultural art scene and the broader global discourse.

More than an anniversary record, this volume serves as both archive and reference—a resource for scholars, artists, and readers seeking deeper understanding of Taiwanese and Taiwanese American art communities, their diasporic trajectories, and their contributions to contemporary art history.

For inquiries or to reserve a copy, please contact info@taac-us.org.

The cover features Watch Us! Together We Can Do It by Taiwanese American artist Chin-Chih Yang.

2026 Island Reverence-I

Support TAAC and Help Build the Future of Arts and Culture