Born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1976, JAO Chia-En graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts in 2000. Later, he studied at Ecole Superieure Libre d'art de Paris from 2001 to 2004 and Goldsmiths, University of London from 2005 to 2007, where he received his Master’s degree. Since 2003, he has participated in exhibitions around Paris, Vienna, London, Seoul, Singapore, Bilbao, Istanbul, and many other places. In 2010, his work was shown in Post adolescence, a group exhibition co-organized by National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts. In the same year, his work was selected by Taipei Biennial. In 2011, Jao was nominated for Signature Art Prize. In the same year, his works were shown in Republic without People at The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts and Arte da Taiwan at Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Villa Croce, Genova, Italy while he also presented his project Thaindophiliviet at The Cube. In 2012, Jao won the 10th Taishin Arts Awards for Best Visual Arts with REM Sleep. 

Father’s Tongue in 2007 shows Jao’s interest in the interpretation of identity and language. From 2008 to 2009, he had continuously developed a system of ideographs and symbols, creating his own symbols to describe the idea of a culture, through which he offered a profound discussion on history, culture, and society. In 2009’s Taiwan Protest Typography and 2011’s REM Sleep and Thaindophiliviet, Jao adopts various artistic styles to explore the marginalized group silenced in the social system, trying to bring the unnoticed sound and text back to an evaluation system of critical thinking. In his recent projects, the artist touches upon these issues he has been interested in. Among the fellow artists in his generation, Jao observes the transformation of Taiwan’s local culture from the global context. The translation of language, the creation of text, and the research on symbols are the main concerns in Jao’s artistic practice. 

30 proposals of coat of Arms is a symbol system about the new cultural entity the artist has been working on. The new cultural entity is referred to how a local culture, with the impacts of colonization and globalization, integrates foreign cultures and its own inheritance to make a new hybrid system. The concept of the work is how an entity perceives and interprets symbols. All these symbols in the system are developed from Taiwan’s history from the European discovery of Taiwan to the recent events. Each pattern has its own symbolic meaning. 

Since 2000, Taiwan’s international affairs have been closely related to the regional economics. From the signing of WTO（World Trade Organization）, industry migration, migrant workers from Southeast Asia, to the controversial Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement and ASEAN Free Trade Area, the active economic interactions decide the political and diplomatic situations of Taiwan, including the changes in population structure and life styles. It is the context we should not overlook when discussing a new cultural entity of Taiwan. 

Based on such a social background, Jao’s artistic practice focuses on a new symbol system and expression of a cultural entity, including how language becomes invalid or how we communicate. His works are full of diversity in terms of media and expression styles. Globalization, identity, political system, visual symbols, and verbal communications within the cultures in Taiwan always been his artistic concern. He has studied in London and Paris, and he travels a lot to work or to show his works. The experience allows him to develop some insightful observational skill and sensitivity on how a society of a different culture, ethnic group, and language influences one’s identity and communication.