sophie’s gallery

Another lovely drawing done by my friend, very pretty and cute, just to share with you.

 

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related post: sophie’s gallery on 17 Aug 2007

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sophie’s gallery

remember this photo i took in harajuku (原宿) of tokyo in April this year that i have mentioned in my earlier post?

have a look of this pretty and lovely picture, that i am dancing with the lovely hanasakemee:

 

cool!  this is a picture a friend of mine has drawn for me, after watching my harajuku photo.  

thank you, my dear friend!

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related post: relaxing sunday

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Ju Ming (朱銘) - Tai Chi

    There is a large bronze sculpture erected in the central plaza of my University and there is where I first knew about Ju Ming (朱銘) and his sculpture.

Ju Ming (朱銘) (1938-) is a Taiwanese sculptor, who attained fame in Taiwan in the 1970s, and in New York in 1983. Ju Ming was trained as a woodcarver, apprenticed to Lee Chin-chuan, as a teenager. He developed his skill, and applied it to a range of media, including bronze, styrofoam, and stainless steel.  Ju Ming has 3 main sculpture series, the Nativist, the Tai Chi and the Living World.  

The large sculpture erected at the central plaza of the Chinese University of Hong Kong is one of Ju Ming’s master pieces in his “Tai Chi (太極)” series.  This sculpture is named as “門” (door), taking the form of two people in combat: one person is kicking out one leg and the other is defensing with one arm.  The space formed between the two people is just like a door, an entrance, or an exit.

The sculptures in Ju Ming’s Tai Chi series are all very large in size, made in bronze, raw in finishes and representing various postures and combat positions of the Tai Chi art.  To understand the Tai Chi series, we have to understand the Tai Chi art first. 

For Tai Chi  is an internal Chinese martial art often practiced with the aim of promoting health and longevity.  Tai Chi is not an aggressive martial art, and it can be regarded as “a philosophy in practice”.  By practising it, it promotes the hamonisation of human and nature, the balance of “Yin (陰)” and “Yang (陽)”, the humble human nature and the respect to nature and all other beings.  “Yin” and “Yang” represent the two opposite elements, energies and characters of nature as well as human beings.   Tai Chi is a very sophisticated martial art and philosophy, it amazingly combines and balances the opposite elements in nature through practising: ”Yin” and “Yang”, movements and still postures, force and relax, hold and release, action and pace, attack and defense.

The Tai Chi series of Ju Ming beautifully represents the forms and philosophy of the traiditional China Tai Chi art.  We could feel directly the essences of Tai Chi in Ju Ming’s sculptures.  If you have chances to watch Ju Ming’s Tai Chi sculptures, please try to imagine the human forms in the Tai Chi postures, and you would be able to get a feel of the Tai Chi art. 

     

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sophie’s gallery

 

 

“still life 1 - 8″, taken in july 2006, hau hin, thailand.

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An Underwater Experience

  (Vissitudes, 2007)

One would find this a very extraordinary experience created by Jason de Caires Taylor: finding some sculptures under 5m clear water in the sea of Grenada, southern tip of the Windward Island in the Caribbean.

    

The sea of the Caribbean is crystal clear, and the sculptures could be viewed simply by swimmers doing snorkeling.  There are several groups of sculptures, several communities, that Taylor has placed under the sea.  Through the clear blue water, the sculptures look like some ancient ruins and the appreciation process becomes an interesting discovery process.

The sculptures at the beginning are the art creations of Taylor, but after those have been placed under the sea, the nature takes it on board to shed lives to the sculptures.  The sculptures have evolved under the sea through time and eventually become part of the coral reef and habitats under the sea.  The project demonstrates and experiments on the relationships between man and environment, art and nature, transformation and immortality. 

Quote:  Taylor focuses his work on the connection between the object and the environment in which it is placed reflects his own experience: “I encountered change from an early age as my family moved from one cultural environment to another. This was the beginning of my fascination with how objects and relationships change as landscapes and contexts alter.”

One of the underwater communities created by Taylor is the Vissitudes: a circle of figures, all linked through holding hands. These are life-size casts taken from a group of children of diverse ethnic background, evoking ideas of unity and continuum.

 

Here are some other underwater communities created by Taylor, they are now in the sea of Grenada, transforming and waiting to be discovered.

   (The Lost Correspondant, 2007) 
  (Sienna, 2007)

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Jason Taylor was born in 1974 to an English father and Guyanese mother. Educated in South East England, he graduated at Camberwell College of Art, London Institute with a B.A.Honours in Sculpture and Ceramics. He has exhibited sculptures in several public spaces, including Trafalgar Square, Regents Park, Waterloo and Camberwell. He is a fully qualified dive instructor with over 14 years of diving experience in a variety of countries worldwide.

 

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sophie’s gallery

my black & white impressions.

 to the light house, okinawa, japan, july 07.

coastal, okinawa, japan, july 07.

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