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Creating 'art for the heart' in crystal glass sculpture
By Wang Jie |
May 13, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AFTER several years of relocation, the Liuli Art Museum has reopened with an exhibition of antique glass and spectacular works by museum founder Loretta H. Yang.
The reopening exhibition titled "Continuously Creating Art for the Good of the Heart" features 262 works of ancient glassware and 23 sets of works by Yang, a former Taiwan actress and film director.
Liuli is the ancient Chinese term for crystal glass.
The current spacious four-story building on Taikang Road is wrapped in wire mesh that resembles a phoenix from a distance.
The museum was founded in 1987 in Taiwan by Yang and her husband Chang Yi. Liuligongfang was the first liuli art workshop in China and became a well-known brand of Chinese crystal art, recognized around Asia.
Ancient Chinese glassware tends to be overshadowed by better known porcelains, bronzes and furniture.
Chang recalls the first time he came across ancient glassware that was carelessly wrapped in old newspaper or placed in broken boxes. "They were like homeless children," he says.
One of the ancient works is a funerary set of seven plugs or seals to close the seven orifices of the human head, dating to the Han Dynasty (BC 206-AD 220).
In addition to ancient glassware, Yang's own works are displayed, many of them spectacular and depicting flowers and Buddhist themes.
Yang uses technique like those used to make bronzes in the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th centuries BC). She uses pate-de-verre, which involves making a paste of glass, placing it in a mold and firing it. Each big piece requires 12 steps and six to eight months of planning.
Many of the out-size works have a mysterious and mystical ambience and interactive programs lets visitors interact with the art. For example, when entering the second floor, each move a visitor takes causes a lotus to blossom on the floor, echoing the various flower-shaped works of glass on display.
The highlights of the third floor are Buddha faces. The thin faces, almost like slices of glass, drift inside a crystal box against a black backdrop, as if floating in mysterious, empty universe.
Yang also uses other media, such as wire mesh that appears like a billowing cloud around a Buddha-like face.
"These two materials, glass and mesh, are strikingly different. One is cold and chaotic (billowing mesh), the other is clean and transparent," Yang says. "But the fusion of the two creates a confrontation. The more difficult life is in this world, the easier it is to see the Buddha."
Yang says she is trying to address the nature of life in a restless world.
"I like the scripture of the Medicine Buddha: May the moment come when I attain enlightenment and the body, even the soul, become like liuli, pure, transparent and flawless," she says
Andrew Brewerton, the famous UK curator, commented, "Yang's glasswork interprets an Oriental philosophy, which is an unbelievable combination of creation and life."
Date: Through August 5, 9am-5pm
Address: 25 Taikang Rd
Admission: 20 yuan
The reopening exhibition titled "Continuously Creating Art for the Good of the Heart" features 262 works of ancient glassware and 23 sets of works by Yang, a former Taiwan actress and film director.
Liuli is the ancient Chinese term for crystal glass.
The current spacious four-story building on Taikang Road is wrapped in wire mesh that resembles a phoenix from a distance.
The museum was founded in 1987 in Taiwan by Yang and her husband Chang Yi. Liuligongfang was the first liuli art workshop in China and became a well-known brand of Chinese crystal art, recognized around Asia.
Ancient Chinese glassware tends to be overshadowed by better known porcelains, bronzes and furniture.
Chang recalls the first time he came across ancient glassware that was carelessly wrapped in old newspaper or placed in broken boxes. "They were like homeless children," he says.
One of the ancient works is a funerary set of seven plugs or seals to close the seven orifices of the human head, dating to the Han Dynasty (BC 206-AD 220).
In addition to ancient glassware, Yang's own works are displayed, many of them spectacular and depicting flowers and Buddhist themes.
Yang uses technique like those used to make bronzes in the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th centuries BC). She uses pate-de-verre, which involves making a paste of glass, placing it in a mold and firing it. Each big piece requires 12 steps and six to eight months of planning.
Many of the out-size works have a mysterious and mystical ambience and interactive programs lets visitors interact with the art. For example, when entering the second floor, each move a visitor takes causes a lotus to blossom on the floor, echoing the various flower-shaped works of glass on display.
The highlights of the third floor are Buddha faces. The thin faces, almost like slices of glass, drift inside a crystal box against a black backdrop, as if floating in mysterious, empty universe.
Yang also uses other media, such as wire mesh that appears like a billowing cloud around a Buddha-like face.
"These two materials, glass and mesh, are strikingly different. One is cold and chaotic (billowing mesh), the other is clean and transparent," Yang says. "But the fusion of the two creates a confrontation. The more difficult life is in this world, the easier it is to see the Buddha."
Yang says she is trying to address the nature of life in a restless world.
"I like the scripture of the Medicine Buddha: May the moment come when I attain enlightenment and the body, even the soul, become like liuli, pure, transparent and flawless," she says
Andrew Brewerton, the famous UK curator, commented, "Yang's glasswork interprets an Oriental philosophy, which is an unbelievable combination of creation and life."
Date: Through August 5, 9am-5pm
Address: 25 Taikang Rd
Admission: 20 yuan
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