Pahawlan Cilan

Visual Arts

The mother is Paiwan from Dawu township in Taitung, and the father is Han from China. Pahawlan Cilan, an indigenous-han artist, keeps exploring his identity in his creations through crossing over as his bloodline. Moving around and living with various ethnic groups since he was young gives him different perspectives from other indigenous artists. After meeting an Amis priest in a trip, he started a series of works questing himself, his traditions, and spirits. Leaping out of ethnic boundaries, Pahawlan Cilan asks ‘where do I come from’ and ‘where should I go to’ at the same time. His identity, personal feelings, traditional culture and spiritual myths enrich his creations also shapes his own symbols. The direction of aboriginal tradition has always been his concern. His works address a lot of issues regarding tradition preservation, environment protection and carry profound meanings. He is an eternal question proposer to himself and all human beings as an artist.

Award
Honorable Mention  2^nd Pulima Art Award, 2014
Honorable Mention  1^st Pulima Art Award, 2012