EP12｜A Return to the Beauty of Childhood — Fang Yu-hsin and Baw on The Great Artist, on the picture book Finding the Clownfish in My Mind

A creative partnership between an all-round artist and the head of Origin Studio, summoning back one's first intention through childlike strokes

[Taipei] In Episode 12 of The Great Artist, the podcast presented by DE Global Art Agency, the all-round artist Fang Yu-hsin and the cross-disciplinary illustrator Baw (Lü Tsai-ting) join the programme to share their latest collaborative picture book, Finding the Clownfish in My Mind. This work, brimming with childlike charm and creativity, pairs Baw's bold, unrestrained strokes with Fang Yu-hsin's delicate, heartfelt words, leading readers back to the cherished days of childhood.

The origin of the title Finding the Clownfish in My Mind is richly poetic. It arises from Fang Yu-hsin's childhood, spent travelling and performing far and wide, when she often saw red-and-white striped canvas tents pitched at the performance venues; those stripes of red and white resembled the markings upon a clownfish. This vividly pictorial childhood memory became the central image of the entire book. The book divides Fang Yu-hsin's years as a child star into thirty-seven warm and true short stories, gently recounting a little-known trajectory of growing up.

Fang Yu-hsin's life is itself a wonderful story. Born Fang Wan-chen, she distinguished herself at the age of nine by entering a singing competition, becoming a child-star singer and stepping into show business from then on. Over the years, she has won repeated recognition in the fields of music and drama, having been nominated three times for the Golden Bell Awards, beloved by audiences for her consummate acting and distinctive singing style. From child star to all-round artist, her journey of growth has held both the halo of fame and untold trials, bitter and sweet — and all these true life experiences have been transmuted into the moving words of Finding the Clownfish in My Mind.

Her collaborator, Baw (real name Lü Tsai-ting), is a richly talented cross-disciplinary creator. She holds the multiple roles of animation director, illustrator, designer and producer, and is currently the head of the animation design company Origin Studio, with widely acclaimed works spanning music, film and television and many other fields. With bold strokes, in concert with Fang Yu-hsin's words, Baw has painted many childlike scenes that are realistic yet rich in imagination, lending this picture book, beyond the sincerity of its emotion, an added wonder and imagination of the visual.

In this episode, this creative pairing share the origin of their collaboration, the process of finding common ground, and how, within the adult world, they rediscovered that childlike eye through which to behold the world. When two seemingly disparate creative energies converge within a single book, what they spark is a moving chemistry concerning memory, growth and one's first intention.

Crossover and collaboration are among the most precious abilities of contemporary creation. With its outlook of academic legitimacy and an international career, The Great Artist chronicles these creative dialogues that deserve to be seen by a wider world, and lets us see that the picture book, as an art form, can likewise carry profound emotion and a vast imagination.

The Great Artist EP12 is now available on Apple Podcasts, SoundOn and other platforms, with a running time of approximately 44 minutes. Listeners are warmly invited to return, together with Fang Yu-hsin and Baw, to the innocent memories of childhood.