The process of creation is one of exploration and escape. Any hesitation or paradox throughout ultimately finds itself chronicled and depicted in a final viewing perspective. The artist’s childhood memories include accompanying her parents to the factory where they worked, a collective production environment typical of the 90s, where everyone would go to the public baths after work before returning home.

She remembers the wafting steam in the baths, and the plump middle-aged bodies of the women from the factory. In her works, Hou Chen-lu constructs small interrelated scenes to guide the viewer’s perspective, restoring elements of the painting through pottery. Heat from the hands leaves its mark in the sculpting process, creating a sense of warmth and time. The jet-black ink strokes on coarse grass paper also create something familiar and close.

The emotional release from creation manifests itself in a sense of madness permeating her works , in which she has created a “garden” both for the viewer and for herself, in which we find things of her imagination – a woman with three breasts, transactions, complete remains… these “archaeological” finds are a reexamination of our modern beauty standards, as societal values overcome personal tastes and preferences. As such, Hou seeks to challenge these definitions, to see if they are indeed so absolute.