Taiwanese artist Tung Ming-Chin is the master of turning wood into pensive, emotive sculptures. His smoothly polished sculptures transform as the viewer moves around them, slowly revealing surprises. Usually dealing with themes of inner emotion as well as the subconscious mind, his sculptures regularly depict figures trapped within the wood, pressing themselves against the outer layer in an attempt to break free.
His 2013 work Breath is a metaphor for “the transformation of a physical space into an inner psychological space affected by vision.” The wooden humps below lead the viewer to ponder the mystery encased within. In Inner Turmoil, the artist turns wood into seemingly thin tissue paper nailed to a wall. From within, a person is pushing against this barrier, testing the limits of the space. The negative and positive space created by the figure can be viewed as a way to explore his inner unrest.
Other sculptures use familiar cultural symbols, like in Between Round and Square: Past, Present, and Future. Ming-Chin plays with the forms of a traditional jade cong and jade bi, that symbolized earth and sky in ancient Chinese culture. By using those familiar forms, he plays on nostalgia while looking toward the future.
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