Mu-Se Kuo

🍑 Momotaro’s Hacienda🍑 Ceramics, vinyl sticker The peach is never just a fruit. The image of the peach carries multiple layers of history. One layer comes from the Japanese folktale Momotaro (The Peach Boy) — a story widely taught during the colonial period and still familiar in Taiwanese childhood culture. Another layer comes from the authoritarian period under Chiang Kai-shek. According to my father, schools distributed peach-shaped buns each year to celebrate the dictator’s birthday. A third layer comes from Chinese mythology, where peaches symbolize longevity, blessing, and immortality. Across these different political and cultural systems, the peach appears gentle, intimate, and harmless. Yet it also becomes a vehicle through which authority enters everyday life — through children’s stories, school rituals, and symbols of care. In this work, I am interested in this contradiction. The peaches appear soft, polished, and inviting. However, when touched, their surface reveals a rough and rigid texture. I want the viewer to experience the tension between appearance and reality: something that seems caring and familiar, yet is shaped by structures of colonial and authoritarian power. ✨The work will be exhibited at Konstfack Vårutställning 13 May 2026 12:00 - 24 May 2026 16:00✨ Warmly welcome!

Folded August 15 Ceramics 125cm x 75cm x 74cm The origami crane sculpture is part of my degree project “The Drawn Museum” examines how folded newspaper structures can reconstruct fragmented narratives from Taiwan’s transitional period between 1945 and 1949. The piece is inspired by a copy of British newspaper published on 15 August 1945—the day Japan announced its surrender. On the same front page, a smaller article reported the early outbreak of the Chinese Civil War. Two events, printed side by side, would go on to shape the lives of multiple generations in Taiwan. #keramik #陶瓷

Momotaro’s Hacienda Ceramics 2026 Momotaro (The Peach Boy) a Japanese folktale widely known in Taiwan — tells the story of a boy born from a giant peach, who grows up to defeat demons. A story that repeated throughout my childhood, and one that also carries traces of Japan’s colonial presence in Taiwan. At the same time, my father recalls how, during the era of Chiang Kai-shek, schools distributed peach-shaped buns to celebrate his birthday. In Chinese mythology, peaches symbolize longevity — fruits of immortality grown by the Queen Mother of the West. Across these layered histories, colonialism, nationalism, and mythology, the peach becomes more than a fruit. It appears soft, innocent, and caring, yet quietly carries structures of power. In my work, I explore this contradiction. The peaches look smooth and comforting, but their surfaces are coarse and rigid to the touch. Something that feels gentle, yet is shaped by control.

Running a peach farm in the ceramic studio 🍑😆 #keramik

The process behind a 125 cm ceramic origami crane Started in mid-November 2025 and completed at the end of February 2026. 3 days sketch, preparing the structure 14 days shaping 1 month drying 5 days bisque firing 14 days painting 1 day glazing 5 days glaze firing During the drying phase, I returned to Taiwan and traveled to Japan for research related to my degree thesis. A slow process, unfolding over time. So many emotions are folded into this piece, layer by layer, like origami. Folded August 15 125 x 75 x 74cm Ceramics #keramik #陶瓷

Meet the graduating Craft Master students ✨ Mu-Se Kuo @musekuo -The Drawn Museum- Who owns the narrative of history? The Drawn Museum explores how Taiwanese history has been drawn, redrawn, and controlled by colonial and authoritarian powers. I build a museum for her (my grandmother) through objects shaped by layered historical influences. Through a long process of making, I return to specific historical moments and create a dialogue across time with my grandmother’s generation. The Drawn Museum does not seek to provide a comprehensive history. Instead, it is a space where I reactivate overlooked memories and reveal how everyday materials carry the traces of power. They also mark the shifting positions of generations within history—positions that remain unfinished, uncertain, and still in the process of becoming.

This Johnson & Johnson Band-Aid sculpture was shown in the exhibition Biggest Little Things at Kaolin Gallery. Band-Aid Ceramics, 2026 #keramik #biggestlittlethings

Making more grocery objects #keramik

All set up! My little ceramic grocery store is ready for the market 💃💃 See you there! 😉 🎄 Konstfack Julmarknad 📅 29–30 Nov, 10.00–17.00 📍 LM Ericssons Väg 14, Stockholm #julmarknad #christmasmarkets

I am opening a little ceramics grocery store at Konstfack Christmas Market! 🧀🥫🍫✨Hope to see you there! 👋🏽👋🏽 📅 29–30 Nov, 10.00–17.00 📍 LM Ericssons Väg 14, Stockholm #julmarknad #christmasmarkets

Unboxing: The hegemony behind everyday objects Amazon Ceramics 2025 ------ This project was inspired by an incident that happened in Taiwan last year. A local beverage shop owner ordered a box of plastic beverage film with cute cartoon graphics from a Chinese e-commerce platform. When the order arrived, the seals featured the expected cute designs but were also emblazoned with a unified slogan: “My motherland and I cannot be separated even for a moment.” Through this case, I wanted to explore how ordinary consumer goods can act as subtle vessels for hegemony, propaganda, and neo-colonial agendas. To express this, I created ceramic sculptures of iconic shipping boxes, like those from Amazon and Temu, as well as a Costco leaflet. These objects serve as metaphors for the political power dynamics—particularly those of superpower countries China and the United States—lurking behind everyday products. By recreating these objects in ceramic, I hope to draw attention to the intersection of consumer culture and the subtle power it carries, encouraging viewers to look closer at the things we consume every day. #ceramics #keramik #unboxing #craft #contemporaryceramics #stoneware #coiling #popart #fooltheeye #Taiwaneseartist #amazonprime #陶瓷 #雕塑 #開箱

Unboxing: The hegemony behind everyday objects Ceramics 2025 This project was inspired by an incident that happened in Taiwan last year. A local beverage shop owner ordered a box of plastic beverage film with cute cartoon graphics from a Chinese e-commerce platform. When the order arrived, the seals featured the expected cute designs but were also emblazoned with a unified slogan: “My motherland and I cannot be separated even for a moment.” Through this case, I wanted to explore how ordinary consumer goods can act as subtle vessels for hegemony, propaganda, and neo-colonial agendas. To express this, I created ceramic sculptures of iconic shipping boxes, like those from Amazon and Temu, as well as a Costco leaflet. These objects serve as metaphors for the political power dynamics—particularly those of superpower countries China and the United States—lurking behind everyday products. By recreating these objects in ceramic, I hope to draw attention to the intersection of consumer culture and the subtle power it carries, encouraging viewers to look closer at the things we consume every day. #ceramics #keramik #unbox #ceramicart #craft #contemporaryceramics #artcollection #popart #Taiwaneseartist #sculpture #konstfack #陶瓷 #雕塑 #當代藝術