島谷織流合作聯盟成員介紹_自然禮讚POEM of nature
作品參考連結（Product references link）：
https://islander.waca.ec/product/detail/1838161
銅上的琺瑯在燈光下泛著光澤，兩種素材的結合，創作出一種水墨的效果，那是自然禮讚品牌藝術家陳彤在島人藝術空間的展品們。
從上海來到花蓮，在這樣兩種截然不同的環境，陳彤坦言自己花了很多的心力和時間，才在花蓮這片土地上有了歸屬感。
「需要對這個地方有了認同感，跟自然和人文有所共鳴，才能感到一種歸屬感。」藝術家的特質就是敏感，陳彤在談話間也直率地表示其實自己知道要被完全的了解是不可能的，藝術家本來就是孤獨的，孤獨只是一種人生的常態。但就是這樣直接的袒露，也讓陳彤的作品，有使人深刻感受到其中心意的力量。
初來花蓮的三年，陳彤感覺自己與花蓮始終是格格不入的，不被接納、也不被理解，甚至曾回頭懷疑過自己的價值觀，像是一株種進不同土地的植物，因為水土不服的關係，始終無法落地生根。
「後來我才明白，你要上另一座山，首先你要先從這一座下來。」陳彤靜靜地描述著，在家鄉的學藝之路一直到求職出社會，對她來說都是順遂無礙的，但在來到了一個完全不同節奏、氣味、樣貌的地方，才讓她知道，她必須要先從之前她一直待著的高處，慢慢地走下來，接近土地、感受自然和這裡的人有了連結，她才有站上另一座山的可能。「這是我的真實經歷，如果不是這樣，我說不出這樣的話。」她斬釘截鐵地表示。
在迷惘的時候，陳彤因緣際會遇到了伯樂，那是一位在舊鐵道販售咖啡的牧師，閒聊當中，也談及對藝術的理解，和牧師的眼神相互凝視的時候，一直漂泊的陳彤彷彿終於有了定錨的重心，緩緩地停了下來。
「那是深淵跟深淵的相吸，只要看一眼就知道了。」陳彤笑說，在牧師的鼓勵下，她也開始在鐵道擺攤，販售起飾品，克服面對人群的恐懼，練習在眾人面前侃侃而談。
陳彤說，她的創作分成兩個部分，一個是品牌，一個是作品。自然禮讚就是她的品牌，是她從在花蓮感受到的自然中獲得靈感，在經由自身的消化將它反芻出來，變成一個像詩一樣美麗的成品，對她來說，那就是一首無言的詩。
「我的品牌飾品都是螺旋式上升的。」因著季節流轉，自然禮讚的飾品從花、海洋、落葉等素材輪替出現，但未曾重複，雖是不停輪轉，卻都呈現出新的相貌，這些飾品跟著陳彤每一年逐漸成長，也像是她年復一年，能更深刻的去體驗自然、了解自然，從而將這樣的情感投入到品牌飾品之中。
陳彤提及了她去到海上的經驗，那一天的她搭著賞鯨船出海，遇到了大浪，整艘船在海浪搖擺之間顯得脆弱，「那個海就像是怪獸一樣，覺得它深不可測，然後就突然覺得，所謂的煩惱，其實就那麼小而已。」在廣袤的海面前感受到的渺小，使她有關海洋的飾品越加深邃，一顆顆的海藍寶石，蘊藏著水的能量。
而作品，則是更直觀的面向她自己的，她說，在島人藝術空間展示的〈處處蓮花開香插〉就是一個很能呈現出她自己狀態的作品。
在上海時期的陳彤是知名飾品品牌的管理階層，年紀輕輕就站上了高位，她 深刻知曉站在高處的感受，也曾待過低谷，對未來充滿迷茫。「不論環境是否能夠帶來希望，不管你是否艱辛、不管周圍是否嘈雜，只要你的心是平靜的、安穩的，那麼不論在哪裡你都可以成為一朵盛開的蓮花。」陳彤的語速在此刻慢下來，像是在輕輕撥弄著池塘澄淨的水面。
「藝術家是很矛盾的，儘管自己就是跟別人不一樣，但還是非常期待能獲得共鳴。」她好笑地說。陳彤的創作是她與這個世界交流和對話的方式，希望自己的品牌飾品成為路過花蓮的人可以隨身帶走的一首自然詩句。雖等待自己的作品被駐足觀看的人理解讀懂，但她抱持著開放的態度，去接納每個人對作品不同的解讀。
陳彤對未來發展的期許，是可以做一個跟自己過去原鄉的文化底蘊，和現居地花蓮連結的展覽，在不斷了尋找與嘗試之後，她的精神與肉體，也終於在花蓮腳踏實地。
–
–
Enamel on copper gleams under the light, blending two materials to create an ink-wash effect—these are the artworks of natural tribute brand artist Chen Tong exhibited at Island Art Space.
From Shanghai to Hualien, in these two vastly different environments, Chen Tong admits it took much effort and time to feel a sense of belonging in Hualien’s soil.
“I needed to identify with this place, resonate with its nature and culture, to feel a sense of belonging.” Artists are inherently sensitive; Chen Tong candidly acknowledges the impossibility of being fully understood. Loneliness is part of an artist’s life, a constant state. Yet, it is this straightforward openness that imbues Chen Tong’s works with a profound sense of purpose.
In her initial three years in Hualien, Chen Tong felt perpetually out of place, unaccepted, and misunderstood. She even questioned her own values, akin to a plant transplanted into unfriendly soil, struggling to take root due to the unsuitability of the environment.
“Later, I realized, if you want to ascend another mountain, you must first descend from this one,” Chen Tong quietly recounts. From her artistic upbringing in her hometown to entering the workforce, everything had been smooth sailing. However, upon arriving in a place with a completely different pace, scent, and appearance, she understood she needed to gradually descend from where she had been, connect with the land, feel nature, and bond with the local people to have a chance at ascending another mountain. “This is my real experience. Without it, I couldn’t say these words,” she asserts firmly.
In moments of uncertainty, Chen Tong serendipitously encountered a mentor—a pastor selling coffee on an old railway. Their casual conversation touched upon art, and in the pastor’s gaze, Chen Tong, who had been wandering, finally found a focal point and gradually came to a halt.
“It was abyss meeting abyss; you can tell with just one glance,” Chen Tong laughs. Encouraged by the pastor, she began selling jewelry on the railway, overcoming her fear of crowds and practicing speaking confidently before others.
Chen Tong explains her creative output in two parts: her brand and her artworks. “Natural Tribute” is her brand, inspired by the nature she experiences in Hualien, refined through her own digestion into a beautiful product akin to poetry. For her, it represents an unspoken poem.
“My brand’s jewelry ascends spirally,” she explains. Evolving with the seasons, Natural Tribute’s jewelry features materials like flowers, the ocean, fallen leaves, each alternating but never repeating, constantly evolving in appearance. These creations grow year by year alongside Chen Tong, enabling her to experience and understand nature more deeply and infuse these emotions into her brand’s jewelry.
Chen Tong recalls her experience at sea, aboard a whale-watching boat amidst towering waves. The boat seemed fragile amid the vast ocean, resembling a monster with unfathomable depths. “It made me realize how insignificant troubles actually are.” Confronted by the vastness of the sea, her jewelry themed around the ocean becomes even more profound, each azure gemstone holding the energy of water.
Her artworks, on the other hand, are more introspective. “Everywhere Lotus Blooms and Fragrant Sticks” showcased at Island Art Space reflects her personal state. During her time in Shanghai, Chen Tong held a managerial position at a renowned jewelry brand at a young age. She knows the feeling of standing at great heights and has also experienced lows, feeling lost about the future. “Regardless of whether the environment brings hope, or how challenging it may be, as long as your heart is calm and at peace, you can bloom like a lotus flower anywhere.” Chen Tong slows her pace as she speaks, akin to gently caressing the calm surface of a pond.
“Artists are inherently contradictory; despite being different from others, they still hope deeply for resonance,” she chuckles. Chen Tong’s creations are her way of communicating and conversing with the world, hoping her brand’s jewelry becomes a verse of natural poetry for passersby in Hualien. While awaiting understanding and interpretation of her works by viewers who stop to contemplate, she remains open to accepting each person’s unique interpretation.
Chen Tong hopes for future development, aiming to create exhibitions that connect her cultural roots in her native land with her current home in Hualien. After countless explorations and trials, her spirit and body have finally found solid ground in Hualien.
