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Background

Wu Ching (吳卿) is famous for his unique golden sculpture placed in the National Palace Museum- ‘The Prosperous Descendants’ (瓜瓞綿綿).The purchase of ‘The Prosperous Descendants’ by the National Palace Museum was unprecedented. The National Palace Museum chose to buy this art piece because it is an impressive and delicate gold art work featuring 238 life-sized ants and seven other insects on three plants emphasizing the abstract concept of harmony in Buddhism. Wu has created many other art pieces relating to the idea of Buddhism and Taoism. His eye-catching pieces include ‘Love for family’ (親情), ‘Cicadas’ (蟬), ‘Beyond Limitations’ (無礙), ‘The Bliss from Dharma’ (法喜), and ‘I Need Soil’ (我需要泥土). Wu’s preference for expressing the philosophy of Buddhism through nature-like art works stems from his childhood experiences in the country side near Jiayi County, Taiwan. There he developed an obsession in with observing ants, one of his favorite insects. Despite different ants having different responsibilities within society, their ability to still create a fair and cooperative society, amazed Wu and inspired him about the potentials of human beings to create miracles. In his early 20s, Wu learned about meditation of Buddhism to develop concentration and calmness. This later became his main concept and motivation for creating art works.

Works

Materials & Techniques

Wu only uses pure metal materials to create art work because it can be maintained for a long time without changes in appearance, such as color fading, deformation and corrosion. Considering the price of gold nowadays, Wu’s works can be very valuable and meaningful. Stemming from the fact that all of his work included insects in their actual sizes, Wu developed a new method of water soldering. The newly designed equipment quickly cools down the extreme high temperatures caused by soldering, preventing shape deformation and color contamination to the petite components. Wu enjoyed making art works using materials with different melting points, such as gold, silver, glass, and wood, both to represent the possible variability of combinations in lives and create more challenges for his creations. However, building components individually is no easier than water soldering. Gold carving requires artists to first build a wooden model then repeatedly follow a series of procedures such as pouring wax, casting, dissolving gold, and pour liquefied gold into the model.

Concepts

Wood carving requires a lot of concentration and stability from the carver. It was something that Wu could not maintain when he was in his 20s. He chose to study Dhyāna from Buddhism and the philosophy of Chuang Tzu in order to concentrate and gain inspirations. By learning these philosophies, Wu not only developed patience, he also adapted these philosophies into his art works. In 1989, he made the transition from wood to gold as the major material for his art work. The malleability of gold fit in to the philosophy of Chuang Tzu; that people need to think beyond the present. His choice of gold art carvings defined his success today as the most influential gold sculptor in Taiwan.

One of his works, ‘I Need Soil’ (我需要泥土) is a combination of two materials, glass and gold. The gold was shaped into a tree with thin golden roots extending from inside through the glass bottle to the outside, and golden branches coming out of the main tree trunk with golden leaves on it. Despite the complexity, the concept of this piece of work was to criticize people’s lack of effort in protecting the environment. Moreover, Wu wanted to show the many possibilities that people could have to achieve a better view of life and the world.

Another key art work is ‘Beyond Limitations’ (無礙). which symbolize power and volition. ‘Beyond Limitation’ is a piece that includes rock made out of silver, with golden grass growing through the rock symbolizing power and volition. In this piece Wu is trying to express that rock, like people’s faith, is strong and irreplaceable. While the grass represents people’s greed, the piece depicts how people can use their present standards of success, such as desires and fantasies, to evaluate the practical success of alternate perspectives.

‘The Bliss of Dharma’ (法喜) is another crucial piece in Wu’s career. The idea of this appearance is from ‘The Butterfly Dream’ in the philosophy of Chuang Tzu(莊周夢蝶). This masterpiece emphasizes the relationship between reality and delusions highlighting that, although ordinary appearances of things could be different, in delusions or in dreams one thing can again be another. The possible transformation of things between appearances illustrates that the differences among things are not absolute.

Recent

Currently, Wu is having an exhibition titled ' Affection for the Countryside: The 'Gold Sculpture of Wu Ching' at the National Center for Traditional Arts.