Tseng Yu-Ho

signed with one seal of the artist

This work is in good condition overall. Paper edges are visible on the lateral surfaces of the work, which is inherent to the artist's working method. Framed individually, quadriptych.
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Dsui is a term created by Tseng Yu-Ho to describe her painting technique. The Chinese character dsui (zhui), which means 'to put pieces together', is composed of a silk radical and four hands on the right. The term is used to describe patchwork quilting, a skill that she learned from her grandmother at the age of three. In her own words, Tseng describes the character as it relates to the literati tradition:

"The Chinese literati had a favourite game they played during their poetic meetings. One person would start by composing a lyric phrase; the next person would add a second phrase, eventually resulting in a poem composed by several people. This was called zhui (dsui) ju. To collect lyric phrases written by several old masters became a new poem. This was named zhui (dsui) wen. Scholarly editions of old classics in which the compliers listed a number of different interpretations are called zhui (dsui) ji. Classics with added lengthy appendices representing different schools of thought were called zhui (dsui) xue.

Bu zhui (dsui) means to repair old clothing with patches. Repairing a damaged mounted scroll of painting or calligraphy involves making paper patches. This technique is also called bu zhui (dsui), and is one that I use in my paintings. The technique of mounting is an old craft which originated in China, and differs from the European collages of the Cubists and Surrealists. When I refer to my dsui painting in Chinese, I use an old seal character that has a hand radical on the left instead of the silk radical, and is thus a pictograph of five hands together."