- Date: Permanent Exhibition
- Venue: National Center for Traditional Arts
- Address: No. 201 Wubin Road Section 2, Wujie Township, Yilan County
- Artist: Wu Ching (吳卿)
- Site:http://www.ncfta.gov.tw
Statement:
From the period when I started carving wooden ants, I had read numerous books in arts, deeply influenced by "originality,” I constantly thought of my own style of creativity. What is originality? In my opinion originality meant "creating what others can't create and create something others never created.”
Later on, I came in contact with Buddhist scriptures, from exploring within life, lifeless and caring, I tried to fully understand the meaning of all species in existence. Do I exist? What about after death? Can spirits exist eternally? My work "I Need Soil” presents a small tree penetrating through a glass bottle, if living can be purified, then life can be raised to a higher level.
My other work "Unhindered,” the brick is a rigid object, as if a person's persistence in everything. Grass represents our minds, passing through the rigid brick, without any cracks on the surface; does the brick have any physical presence? Limits of self-consciousness, one should have no limits if set free.
In the long road of creative biography, I slowly began to understand the meaning of emptiness will awaken in quietness. My work "Intermingling Grief and Joy” I meditated for consecutive days, when I opened my eyes, all of a sudden, I came across in the universe, every matter is empty, every physical existence does not exist, for a long time, I felt that pain from constant, tears involuntarily dropped, I had fulfilled the feeling of compassion and joy.
"Affection for the Countryside (鄉野情懷)” was commissioned by the National Center for Traditional Arts. Using 15kg of pure gold, 80kg of silver, and 60kg of bronze, Wu recreated insects, fruits, and vegetables from his childhood memories. The completed creation weighs close to 15kg, spanning 600cm in width and 420cm in height.
