Tzu-chi Yeh injects emotions into his still live pieces. He also uses the portrait to create a quiet, unique atmosphere reminiscent of classical paintings, in which his subjects become livelier and filled with a mysterious, dramatic tension. But more importantly are the stories and messages he wishes to express through his subjects, using unique visual metaphors to infuse emotions onto the canvas.

“Taro, Sweet Potato” uses root crops common to Taiwan to represent the author’s homeland. A gentle trickle of nostalgia pervades throughout. For the people of Taiwan, these two crops also represent the “provincialism obsession” that existed in early Taiwanese society. This obsession has become a thing of the past, the product of a bygone era. Artists are not historians; their role is not to describe conflicts of the past but to express their emotions and thoughts through objects. In his most straightforward way, using the simplest of objects, the artist has bought back the collective memory of his generation. Like old friends reminiscing about the past, memories are evoked and viewers are invited to let go, to let their minds wander back to their most treasured memories.